Lot 275. A rare pair of Qingbai figures, Song dynasty (960-1279). The tallest 13.2cm., 5 1/4 in. Estimate 25,000 — 30,000 GBP (33,913 - 40,695 EUR). Lot Sold 102,500 GBP (142,875 EUR). Photo Sotheby's 2015

each bent over holding a basket of objects and possibly a marrow respectively, on a rounded base carved with diagonal fluting - Quantité: 2. 

Provenance: Eskenazi Ltd., London, 1999.

Bibliography: Giuseppe Eskenazi and Hajni Elias, A Dealer’s Hand. The Chinese Art World Through the Eyes of Giuseppe Eskenazi, London, 2012, pl. 145.

Note: This charming pair of figures is remarkable for its naturalistic modelling, achieved through the meticulous rendered details, such as the basket from which flaming pearls and precious objects emerge and the sensitively rendered poses and facial expressions of the two figures. Qingbai figurative sculptures of this type have been found at the Hutian kiln site in Jingdezhen, Jiangxi province; see one of a boy illustrated in Chai Kiln and Hutian Kiln, Nanning, 2004, pl. 103; and another of a seated man holding a peach included in the exhibition Ceramics Finds from Jingdezhen Kilns, Fung Ping Shan Museum, Hong Kong, 1992, pl. 61.

Further qingbai figures of this type include a pair of seated luohan, published in Regina Krahl, Chinese Ceramics from the Meiyintang Collection, vol. 1, London, 1994, pls 626 and 627; another  depicting the bodhisattva Guanyin, illustrated in Rose Kerr, Song Through 21st Century Eyes. Yaozhou and Qingbai Ceramics, Dreumel, 2009, pl. 2-35; and the bust of a boy holding a peach from the collections of Ralph M. Chait and Evelyn Annenburg Hall, sold at Christie’s New York, 29th March 2006, lot 89.

Sotheby's. Important Chinese Art, London, 13 may 2015, 11:00 AM