Antique 19th Century Chinese Wucai Porcelain Ho Ho Boy Figures of Hehe & Erxian - a Pair

Description

A charming set of 19th c. Hehe Erxian figures - a mirrored true-matching pair. Figures like these originally appeared during … more A charming set of 19th c. Hehe Erxian figures - a mirrored true-matching pair. Figures like these originally appeared during the mid-Kangxi period, likely as export pieces to Europe. Mistranslated in the west as "lucky twins" and today recognized as jovial boys, the Hehe Erxian are in fact immortals and the patrons deities of Chinese potters. Their manifestation in two persons symbolize harmony and concord or "two in body but one in spirit."

There is a mirrored pair of wucai Hehe Erxian figures in the Peabody Essex Museum, which are also dated late 19th century. William R. Sargent discusses their form and dating in page 477 of his "Treasures of Chinese Export Ceramics".

Late 19th century
Late Qing Dynasty to Republic period
Porcelain with overglaze wucai enamels
Height 9.13"
Small chip to the lotus flower bud of one figure, otherwise very good. less