196.
THREE POLYCHROME ENAMELED BISCUIT MODELS OF PARROTS
Qing dynasty, Kangxi period, early 18th century
22 cm high each
Provenance: Naples, Villa della Floridiana, Museo Duca di Martina, Placido de Sangro (1829-1891) collection.
inv. nn. 3714, 3888, 3891.
Sculptures with parrots similar to these were produced in Jingdezhen from the late seventeenth century and continuously in the following decades. The enamels on these three examples could be referred to the late Kangxi period, especially the so called ‘egg and spinach’ glaze which could be considered as an evolution of the sancai glaze favoured already from the Tang dynasty.
Related sculptures are in the Porzellansammlung, Dresden, formerly in the collection of Augustus the Strong (1670-1733) (see for example inv. n. PO 4342). Four sculptures of parrots very similar to these 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, pp. 254-255, nn. 540-543); see also the comparable sculptures in the collection of Marie Vergottis (J. Ayers, La collection de porcelains chinoises de Marie Vergottis, Lausanne 2004, pp. 94-95, nn. 70-72).
