TWO CHINESE EXPORT PORCELAIN FAMILLE VERTE EUROPEAN COURT FIGURES

This rare couple is also found in several museum collections, including the Peabody Essex Museum, Salem and the Victoria and Albert Museum, London (accession no. C.109A-1963). The elaborate fashions the couple wears are thought to be after late 17th century engravings by the Bonnart brothers, and the figures are sometimes refered to as Louis XIV and Madame de Maintenon. See W.R. Sargent, The Copeland Collection, Chinese and Japanese Ceramic Figures, Salem, 1991, pp. 104-105.

The Tibor Collection was formed over decades, growing to encompass every category of Chinese export porcelain, from small, charming teawares to massive pairs of important jars. The collector had a deep appreciation for the magnificent porcelains made for New Spain as well as for the lifelike charm and elegance of Chinese porcelain figure and animal models.