GROUP OF EIGHT DEHUA FIGURES LATE QING DYNASTY-REPUBLIC PERIOD, 19TH-20TH CENTURY comprising: a near pair of figural groups depicting court ladies with mirror, each moulded with an attendant holding up a mirror for Her Ladyship to fix her flamboyant hair; a pair of seated Guanyin, each crackle-glazed Bodhisattva seated in royal ease pose with her right hand holding a scroll; a standing figure of Budai; a figural group of an ear-picking deity with his attendant crossing the arms over his chest; a standing lady with a tamed phoenix clinging closely to her right; and a standing lady holding a bird carrier

(largest: 39.8cm high)

Footnote: Provenance: Property from Newbattle Abbey, Midlothian. Newbattle Abbey, which sits outside Edinburgh in the Midlothian countryside, has origins dating back 900 years. Originally a Cistercian monastery founded in the 12th century by monks form Melrose Abbey, it was developed in the 16th century as a country house, with expansions and further improvements in the 18th and 19th centuries. The house incorporates some existing elements of the earlier abbey in the south part, with stone used for building the new house as well as a new parish church. Newbattle Abbey is considered a rare example of a Scottish house converted for secular use which retained elements from its ecclesiastical past. It is now a category A listed building due to its national and historical importance. In 1930, shortly after inheriting the estates of Newbattle, Monteviot, Ferniehurst and Blickling, the 11th Marquess of Lothian decided to hand over Newbattle Abbey, its contents and 125 acres of garden and parkland to a foundation that would run an education college. Newbattle Abbey College opened to students in 1937 and, apart from a break during World War II, its educational role continues to this day.