384.
EAGLES (PAIR)
PORCELAIN DECORATED IN
FAMILLE ROSE
ENAMELS AND
GOLD
QING DYNASTY, QIANLONG PERIOD (1736–1795),
CA. 1736–1750
HEIGHT 58 CM
INV. NO. 586
A mirror-image pair of imposing eagles,
naturalistically modelled and enamelled,
stand watchfully on a pierced rockwork base,
their heads lifted and slightly turned and
their wings folded. Each eagle finely
enamelled in shades of brown with the detail
of the feathers on their heads, neck and a
small part of their bodies painted with great
care in a fine pattern of V-shaped lines.
The chest, wings and tail coloured with wider
or narrower lines, according to the type of
feathers, and the wings enhanced with gold
details. The eyes, with dark brown, almost
black pupils, are also speckled with gold.
The curved beaks which are slightly agape to
let air escape during firing, are stippled in
gold. The feet and claws enamelled in brown,
almost black, and detailed in gold to imitate
typical eagle scales. The rockwork base was
first enamelled in shades of blue, then
overlaid with thin layers of purple and white.
The base is open to the hollow bodies of the
eagles.
The Chinese word for eagles and hawks is
ying
, a homophone for ‘heroic’ and they are
considered to be a symbol of strength,
courage, boldness and keen sight. 1 A solitary
eagle on a rock in the sea symbolizes the
hero (
ying
) fighting a lonely battle. 2
Porcelain birds similar to these were made in
the West, mostly in Meissen. They were part
of Augustus the Strong’s extravagant and
self indulgent project to create a menagerie
of life-size porcelain animals and birds to
display in the Japanese Palace, Dresden.
These birds included the famous eagles made
in about 1732 based on Japanese prototypes
from the late seventeenth and early
eighteenth century. 3
In the early 1730s eagles were already
modelled in Meissen, as for example an eagle
flapping its wings modelled by Johann
Joachim Kaendler in 1731 4 and another,
closer to Japanese originals, modelled by
Johann Gottlieb Kirchner in 1733. 5
Imposing items like these, made in China,
were probably intended to be exported to
Europe in order to compete with German
designs.
In the Grimsthorpe and Drummond Castle
Trust there is a pair of Japanese eagles of
similar size (56 and 55 cm) modelled in an
identical position and decorated in shades
of brown like this pair. 6
The large Japanese eagles were also very
much appreciated in Europe, as is evident
from an illustration of about 1705 of the
Porcelain Room in the Charlottenburg Castle
in Berlin, by Eosander von Göthe, showing a
pair of eagles on a mantelpiece. 7 Lot number
120 in the Gaignat sales catalogue dated
14 February 1769, is described as ‘Deux
Beaux Aigles de grandeur naturelle’ (two
beautiful eagles of natural size), and
accompanied in the right margin by a sketch
of an eagle similar to Japanese models, made
by Gabriel Saint-Aubin. 8
In the Rothschild collection in Waddesdon
Manor, there is a pair of Chinese eagles
modelled in the same way as this pair, but
with white necks. 9
The Peabody Essex Museum, Salem,
Massachusetts, has an eagle dating to the
same period, also of impressive size (53 cm
high) but with a raised right claw and
plumage painted in colourful enamels, from
the Copeland collection. 10
Provenance:
Gilberto Daccache collection, Brazil
Robert and Melanie Gill collection, USA
Published in:
Leite, 1986, no. 42, pp. 94–95
The Chinese Porcelain Company, 2000, p. 171
1 Williams, 1993, p. 175.
2 Eberhard, 1986, p. 89.
3 Sargent, 1991, p. 146, no. 67.
4 Wittwer, 2001, pp. 30-31, fig. 23; Loesch, Pietsch and
Reichel, 1998, p. 202.
5 Ayers, Impey and Mallet, 1990, p. 198, est. 191.
6 Idem, ibid., pp. 185-87, est. 172.
7 Idem, ibid., p. 61.
8 Idem
,
ibid., p. 187; Sargent, ibid., p. 170.
9 Charleston and Ayers, 1971, no. 99.
10 Sargent, ibid., pp. 146-47, no. 67.
342 .
HUMAN AND ANIMAL FIGURES