327.
A PAIR OF A POLYCHROME ENAMELED MODELS OF COCKERELS
Qing dynasty, Qianlong period, mid 18th century
30,2 cm high each
Provenance: Naples, Villa della Floridiana, Museo Duca di Martina, Placido de Sangro (1829-1891) collection.
inv. nn. 3865, 3879.
In China the cockerel is considered a symbol of good luck, faithfulness and perseverance. However, statuettes such as those discussed here were explicitly destined to Europe, where they were valued above all as decorative objects (W.R. Sargent, The Copeland Collection. Chinese and Japanese Ceramic Figures, Salem 1991, pp. 141-143, n. 65).
A model of a cockerel with a very similar shape is illustrated in D. Howard – J. Ayers, China for the West. Chinese Porcelain and other Decorative Arts for Export illustrated from the Mottahedeh Collection, 2 voll., London – New York 1978, II, n. 606; see also the pair in the British Royal Collection (J. Ayers, Chinese and Japanese Works of Art in the Collection of Her Majesty The Queen, 2 voll. London 2016, I, pp. 318-319, nn. 725-736).
