清十八 / 十九世紀 象牙首人物立像一對

the heads, forearms and hands carved from ivory, the bodies constructed from bamboo, metal wire, paper and fabric, dressed in detailed embroidered garments worked in a variety of techniques, the garments consisting of a man's official robe and hat, collar, surcoat with peacock rank badges, lady's official robe, pleated skirt and vest, the facial details and hair of the figures painted in black and polychrome pigments, affixed to later European bases (2)

The garments of these two figures display a high degree of detail. They are embroidered in satin, chain and knotted stitch and include couching with gold-wrapped threads. They closely resemble the real robes that an official and his wife would have worn, except that the areas that would have been hidden from view are not embroidered. The rank badges on the surcoat indicate that this is a third rank civil official. Sometime in the history of these figures, the garments have been switched around, so that the man is wearing the lady's vest, and the lady is wearing the man's surcoat under her robe. The lady's bound feet indicate that she is Chinese, as opposed to Manchu, as Manchu women did not bind their feet.

An example of a pair of figures portraying a Manchu couple is in the collection of the Peabody Museum of Salem, and illustrated in William R. Sargent, The Copeland Collection: Chinese and Japanese Ceramic Figures, Salem, 1991,  no. 93. This pair of figures is seated and dressed in similar official robes, although the details of their robes are painted on rather than embroidered.  It is noted Ibid., p. 192, that such figures may have been intended as curiosities for the export market, and that unfired painted clay figures were more common.