晚清 德化白釉和合二仙像LATE QING DYNASTY晚清 德化白釉和合二仙像款識: 何朝宗印10 7/8 in. (27.8 cm.) highThe Hehe Erxian, or the Two Immortals of Harmony and Unity, were believed to preside over happy marriages, and are adaptations of two famous poet-monks of the Tang dynasty, Hanshan and Shide. During the Ming and Qing dynasties, the twins were usually depicted holding a box, he, and a lotus stem. The homophone he provides a rebus for harmony. Compare a very similar Dehua group with a Xu Yunlin seal mark in the Hong Kong Museum of Art, included in the exhibition, The Wonders of the Potters Palette, Hong Kong Museum of Art and illustrated in the Catalogue, no. 141. A slightly larger group was sold at Christies Hong Kong, 1 December 2010, lot 2811.Details A DEHUA HEHE ERXIAN GROUPLATE QING DYNASTYThe twins are shown facing and laughing with one another. The standing twin is wearing loose robes open at the chest to reveal a ruyi-form necklace, holding in his right hand a large plantain leaf draping over his shoulders. The other twin seated beside him with robes open at the chest to reveal a similar necklace, with long hair trailing down his back and a bald patch on the top of his head, holding a half-opened basket in his right hand to reveal a bat, with a further bat rests on the cover of the basket. The back of the group is impressed with a four-character seal mark reading He Chaozong yin.10 7/8 in. (27.8 cm.) high Provenance An American private collectionSold at Christie’s Hong Kong, 1 June 2011, lot 3725 Conditions of sale