A PAIR OF LARGE CHINESE EXPORT FAMILLE ROSE FIGURES... Lot n° 251

A PAIR OF LARGE CHINESE EXPORT FAMILLE ROSE FIGURES OF HAWKS, 19TH CENTURY Well modelled, each hawk with an alert expression, clutching a small yellow sparrow in its left claw, perched on a pierced rockwork base, finely decorated with meticulous detail, brightly enameled in light blue, brown, and yellow with purple crowns. (2) Provenance: Belgian trade. Condition: Each bird with a small area of touchup ca. 3 x 3 cm below the back of its head as well as touchups encircling the lower edge of the base. Overall good condition and displaying very well, with minor wear and firing irregularities, minute flaking to enamels. Weight: 1,862 g and 1,882 g Dimensions: Height 30 cm and 30.3 cm Literature comparison: Hawks were widely depicted in Chinese art and the flying of hawks was a pursuit of emperors and the nobility. For three various models of hawk figures see Michael Cohen and William Motley, Mandarin and Menagerie, Reigate, 2008, pp. 268-271. The authors note that hawks in Chinese are known as ‘ying’, a homophone for ‘heroic’, and that a hawk on a rock is a symbol of heroism standing fast in the world. Auction result comparison: Type: Near-identical Auction: Sotheby’s New York, 24 January 2014, lot 36 Estimate: USD 5,000 or approx. EUR 6,100 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing Description: A pair of Chinese export porcelain famille-rose figures of hawks, 19th century