Lot 1081. A pair of very large pottery roof tiles, Ming dynasty (1368-1644); 29 in. (73.6 cm) high. Estimate USD 20,000 - USD 30,000. Price realised USD 22,500. © Christie's Image Ltd 2019. 

Each tile is modeled as a foreigner wearing a long-sleeved robe and peaked cap seated astride flying a Buddhist lion grasping a brocade ball in its forepaws, all under aubergine, turquoise, cream and amber glazes.

The Robert B. and Beatrice C. Mayer Family Collection.

Provenance: Perret Vibert, Paris, 9 June 1970.

Note: During the Ming period the main centers for the production for tilework figures were in Shanxi, Hebei and Henan counties in the north and Jiangsu, Jiangxi, Fujian and Guangdong counties in the south. According to J. Harrison-Hall, Ming Ceramics in the British Museum, London, 2001, pp. 537-38, large tilework figures were "made in section molds, hand finished, and glazed in the sancai or fahua palettes of the tile-making industries," and "would have been produced in specially built small kilns." The author goes on to note that "large-scale sculptures, created by artisans rather than by individual artists, were predominantly produced for religious purposes," with most of them placed in temples. Compare the similarly large pair of glazed figures of foreigners seated on Buddhist lions sold at Christie’s New York, 19-20 September 2013, lot 1290.