QING DYNASTY TWO-LIGHT GILT COPPER MOUNTED PORCELAIN WALL SCONCES

A PAIR OF CHARMING QING DYNASTY TWO-LIGHT GILT COPPER MOUNTED PORCELAIN WALL SCONCES WITH ‘HEHE ERXIAN’ FIGURES

The Figures Chinese, Late Eighteenth or Early Nineteenth Century. The Gilt Copper Mounts and Porcelain Flowers, Possibly French Nineteenth Century.

Measurements
Height: 11.5" (28 cm); Width: 9.5" (24 cm).

Research
Of porcelain and gilt copper. Each in the form of a “Hehe Erxian” figure dressed in polychrome robes and holding a flowerpot that issues two gilt copper downswept vine-form candle arms with foliate nozzles, decorated with scrolling leaves and porcelain flower heads.

The present pair of wall lights contain porcelain figural elements dating from the Qing dynasty, likely the Qianlong period (1736–1795). These figures are made of a type of Chinese porcelain called Wucai, meaning many colors, which typically employs red, green, yellow, cobalt, and white. Wucai porcelain was manufactured by applying a blue underglaze and firing the vessel, before adding an overglaze of colors and firing a second time.

Full research report available on request.