Four figures of seated boys 18th century or earlier
White porcelain with blue glaze | H 12.0 cm (identical) (whole object) | RCIN 58862
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Four south Chinese white porcelain figures of seated boys. Each seated on the ground with legs apart and hollow-moulded, naked apart from a blue sash tied across the stomach, wearing a smiling expression and with the hair dressed in two topknots. He holds damaged attributes, perhaps a lotus plant (right hand) and a spray of lingzhi (left hand), emblems of purity and longevity.
Similar examples have been recovered from a succession of trading ships wrecked in the South China Sea between the early eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, while en route from China to the islands of south-east Asia, notably from the wreck of the Geldermalsen, c.1750. Possibly intended for the Chinese communities settled there, such figures were perhaps appreciated by their recipients as wish tokens for the birth of a male heir.
Text adapted from Chinese and Japanese Works of Art in the Collection of Her Majesty The Queen: Volume I.Provenance
These and other figures were probably bought by George IV when Prince of Wales. John Crace’s account for items bought for the Prince in 1803 includes ‘Six Blue China Figures -- £1.10.0’, which may include these; two more ‘Blue Josses 15” 0’ were acquired on 8 January 1804 (Royal Archives GEO/MAIN/26345 and GEO/MAIN/26360).
The Royal Pavilion Inventory lists ‘Four naked (small josses), blue and white' (1829). -
Creator(s)
(nationality)Acquirer(s)
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Medium and techniques
White porcelain with blue glaze
Measurements
H 12.0 cm (identical) (whole object)
Category
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