A RARE FAMILLE ROSE GROUP OF A 'STANDING DUTCH COUPLE' Qianlong period, circa 1750-1755 The male figure with ochre curly shoulder length hair and wearing a black flat-crowned hat, a light blue coat decorated with red and pink flowers, a dark brown waistcoat embroidered with gold-thread borders, a pair of red knee breeches, white stockings and black heels; the lady in Chinese style garments, with a richly enameled red kerchief decorated with oleander over her hair, green top and long pink patterned dress, her right hand holding a blue handkerchief and her left hand outstretched and entwined in the gentleman's left hand, his feet slightly splayed, perhaps in preparation for dancing, both standing on a waisted rectangular base. 9 3/4in (25cm) high Footnotes: 乾隆時期 約1750-1755年 粉彩荷蘭愛侶立像擺飾 Provenance: Collection of Nelson (1908-1979) & Happy Rockefeller (1926-2015) Espirito Santo Collection, Lisbon Published Cohen & Cohen, The Elephant in the Room, Antwerp, 2019, pp. 54-57, no. 21 Michel Beurdeley, Porcelain of the East India Companies, Paris, 1962, col.pl. V and cat. no. 2 來源： 纳尔逊(1908-1979)及海貝(1926-2015)·洛克菲勒伉儷(Nelson & Happy Rockefeller)舊藏 里斯本Espirito Santo家族舊藏 出版： 倫敦Cohen & Cohen古董行，《The Elephant in the Room》，安特衛普，2019年，頁54.57，圖版編號21 Michel Beurdeley，《Porcelain of the East India Companies》，Paris，1962，彩版V，圖版編號2 The woman stands to the left, the man to the right with his left arm around her shoulder, her left hand held by his left hand, in a position of respect and affection. The modeling is accomplished in a naïve style which raises the question as to the design source. Their clothing is typical eighteenth-century European but decorated in the Chinese style with prunus and other flowers. The Chinese were as curious about Westerners as Westerners were curious about the Chinese, so it is possible that these could have found a market within China, although no know figures are in established Asian collections. The plinth provides another clue that indicates these groups might have been popular with the Chinese market and not made purely for export, as this style is sometimes found on pieces made for the domestic market. Perhaps they were 'curiosities for those interested in the physiognomy, costumes and social habits of Westerners' as suggested by Sargent (William Sargent, The Copeland Collection: Chinese and Japanese Ceramic Figures, Salem, 1991, p. 220). There exist books with illustrations of European figures that were made for the Chinese Court and Emperor Qianlong encouraged the use of European scenes and figures on certain Imperial items. A slightly earlier version of this standing couple, on a flattened base and with different molds for the faces is also recorded (see Cohen & Cohen, London, 2018, No. 55). The faces and clothing on this earlier version are the same as found on kneeling figures of Europeans carrying a porcelain vase with a Qianlong mark, which is further evidence that these figures may have originated in porcelain workshops making wares predominantly for the Chinese market. Related works: The Copeland Collection, Peabody Essex Museum, in Sargent 1991, no. 106, 220-221, for which see related objects; National Palace Museum of Ireland, Dublin has a white version; The British Museum, an undecorated example possible from Jingdezhen though identified as Dehua. The design of the three-dimensional figural sculpture may have an earlier two-dimensional prototype depicted on porcelain such as the European couple delineated in the polychrome painted dish dated to circa 1715-1725 in the collection of the British Museum, Franks.590. For another example, in different enamel colors, see Cohen & Cohen, Double Dutch, Belgium, 2006, pp. 26-27, no. 14.