A large pair of famille rose court lady candleholders, Qianlong Period

Each standing lady smiling sweetly and holding a vase to her side to take a candle, her hair swept up in a double topknot pinned with a flower and with a thin white-glazed headband, on a green lotus-leaf base - 16¾ in. (42.5 cm.) high (2) - Estimate: $40,000-60,000

Provenance : C. Avery Topping Collection, Brasted Park, England

Literature : Howard, The Choice of the Private Trader, p. 258, pl. 307

Exhibited : Minneapolis Institute of Arts, 1997

Notes : Chinese porcelain court ladies were fashionable on European tables in the second half of the 18th century, and were made in varying sizes with varying details. A pair modelled very like the present example from a private Canadian collection was sold Christie's New York, 26 January 2006, lot 40. Also compare Howard and Ayers, op. cit., vol. II, p.614-5, pl. 644.

Christie's. The Hodroff Collection, Part II Chinese Export Porcelain. From The Collection Of Leo & Doris Hodroff. 23 January 2008. 20 Rockefeller Plaza, New York