Two rare Derby chinoiserie candlestick groups circa 1750-58

modelled as two Chinese boys seated at either side of a rococo scrolled candlestick with a floriform candleholder; the scroll-molded base painted with sprigs of flowers.

Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum, Rococo: the Continuing Curve 1730-2008, March 7-July 6, 2008

The group on the left in the catalogue illustration: there is some restoration to the right hand of the figure in the green jacket; the end of the belt of the other figure is chipped away.and the tips of both his boots are restored. The nozzle and bobeche have been broken off the stem, restored back; there are restored chips to the edges of both; there is a factory-filled firing fault across the underside of the base. The group on the right: the right hand of the boy in the flowered jacket is restored; the nozzle and bobeche have been off the stem and restored back; one leaf of the bobeche has been broken off and restored back and there are restored chips to the nozzle there is a minor fine, probably factory-related, haircrack across the underside of the base, running up the side for about 1 in. All the restoration is well done.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

Oriental groups and figures produced at Derby from 1752 to 1760 include the series of 'Five Senses' modelled by Andrew Planché, of which only a few examples are recorded (see Franklin A. Barrett and Arthur L. Thorpe, Derby Porcelain, pp. 196 and 197). In addition to this series, a rare figure of a Chinese boy climbing amidst the branches of a gnarled tree is in the Fitzwilliam Museum Cambridge, illustrated ibid., pl. 25. Other examples include a rare pair of Chinese boys emblematic of 'water' and 'air', also modelled by Planché during the factory's 'dry-edge' period, illustrated ibid., pl. 13 and by Dennis G. Rice, Derby Porcelain, p. 82, pl. 14. Although the design sources for these oriental models apparently have not been recorded, it has been suggested by H. G. Bradley in Ceramics of Derbyshire 1750-1975,  that the series of 'Five Senses' "may have something to do with the 'Livre de six feuilles représentant les cinq Sens par différents amusements chinois sur les dessins de F. Boucher."

The present candlestick groups, belonging to this brief period of Derby's production of Oriental figures and groups, also prove to be rare examples. A comparable pair, formerly in the Hurlbutt Collection, is illustrated by Yvonne Hackenbroch in Chelsea and Other English Porcelain, Pottery and Enamel in the Irwin Untermyer Collection, pl. 107, fig. 289. A single example is illustrated by Frank Stoner in Chelsea, Bow and Derby Porcelain Figures, 1955, pl. 49; and another, from the Collection of Charles E. Dunlap, was sold at Sotheby's Parke Bernet, New York, April 13, 1963, lot 49.