A pair of export famille verte boys riding qilins, Kangxi period (1662-1722). Estimate $60,000 – $80,000. Photo Christie's Image Ltd 2015

The laughing boys are modeled in mirror image seated astride their mythical beast, each holding a peach in one hand. The qilin dragon heads are glazed a soft yellow and their lightly-molded scaly coats are green with iron-red flames. 11 in. (28 cm.) high

Provenance: With Frank Partridge & Sons. Ltd, London.
The Price Collection; Sotheby's London, 14 November 2000, lot 341.
With Frank Partridge, London. 
The James E. Sowell Collection, Dallas, Texas.

Literature: Michael Cohen and William Motley, Mandarin and Menagerie: Chinese and Japanese Export Ceramic Figures, Reigate, 2008, pp. 88-87.

Christie's. MANDARIN & MENAGERIE: THE SOWELL COLLECTION, PART II, 16 September 2015, New York, Rockefeller Plaza