A large pair of 'Dehua' figures of ladies, 17th / 18th century | 十七 / 十八世紀 德化白釉仕女立像一對

In the late 17th century, figures of imposing, elegant, white-glazed, porcelain ladies, exemplified by the present examples, were one of the most desirable Chinese luxury items amongst the European elite. Prominently displayed on brackets and pedestals in bespoke Chinese-themed rooms, with their graceful stance, luxurious attire, and gentle demeanors, Dehua sculptures of dignified ladies embodied the allure of the East that had collectively captured European cultural imagination. Similar figures may be found in numerous royal European palaces including Drottingholm near Stockholm, the collection of Augustus the Strong in Dresden, Sans Souci in Potsdam, and Charlottenburg in Berlin. The earliest record of similar Dehua models of ladies in Europe is the 1716 inventory of the collection of Queen Charlotte Amelie (1650-1714) at Rosenborg Castle in Denmark. A pair of nearly identical figures and three related figures, each of a woman holding a child in one arm, are in the Royal Collection, London and illustrated in John Ayers, Chinese and Japanese Works of Art in the Collection of Her Majesty the Queen, vol. 1, London, 2016, cat. nos 37-42.