329.
A PAIR OF ‘FAMILLE ROSE’ MODELS OF HOUNDS
Qing dynasty, Qianlong period, 1740-1770 circa
15,5 cm high each
Provenance: Naples, Villa della Floridiana, Museo Duca di Martina, Placido de Sangro (1829-1891) collection.
inv. nn. 3404, 3414.
The dog is considered also in China a symbol of fidelity. Even if this kind of porcelain sculpture was mainly destined to Europe, the presence of a pair of silver dogs from the Summer Palace in Beijing could be interpreted as a proof that these figures of hounds were not made only for the export market (W.R. Sargent, The Copeland Collection. Chinese and Japanese Ceramic Figures, Salem 1991, p. 139, n. 63, for a similar but larger sculpture in the Peabody Museum in Salem).
A pair of very similar models of hound are 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, p. 320, nn. 732-733); see also the couple in the Casa-Museu Dr. Anastácio Gonçalves in Lisbon (M.A. Pinto de Matos, A Casa das Porcelanas. Cerâmica Chinesa da Casa-Museu Dr. Anastácio Gonçalves, Lisboa, Lisbon 1996, p. 263, n. 156).
