A FAMILLE ROSE FIGURE OF GUANYIN

18th century

18th century
The Goddess of Mercy finely modelled seated with her right leg raised, her left arm holding a scroll resting upon her right hand, the face with serene expression beneath a high chignon bun draped with a shawl, clad in loose flowing robes finely decorated with lotus sprays and foliate scroll work, open at the chest revealing beaded jewellery, with hardwood stand. 24cm (9 1/2in) high. (2).

十八世紀 粉彩觀音坐像

Provenance:
Captain Charles Oswald Liddell (1854-1941)
Bluett & Sons Ltd., London
E. A. Parry (1879-1946), London, acquired from the above on 12 June 1929, and thence by descent

Published and Exhibited:
Bluett and Sons Ltd, The Liddell Collection of Old Chinese Porcelain, London, June 1929, p.15, no.137.

來源：
Charles Oswald Liddell上尉（1854-1941）
倫敦古董商Bluett & Sons Ltd.
倫敦E. A. Parry（1879-1946）舊藏，於1929年6月12日購自上者，並由後人保存迄今

展覽著錄：
Bluett & Sons Ltd.，《Liddell收藏中國瓷器（The Liddell Collection of Old Chinese Porcelain）》，倫敦，1929年6月，頁15，編號137

Captain Charles Oswald Liddell (1854-1941) was born in 1851 in Edinburgh. Having moved to China for family business, he worked there from 1877-1913. He married Elizabeth Birt in 1880 in the Anglican Cathedral in Shanghai, and thereby inherited Birt's Wharf there, expanding the business to Hangzhou, Tianjin and Harbin. He was joined by his brother John when the firm became known as Liddell Bros. In 1915 Liddell was Quartermaster and Hon. Captain in the 1st Battalion, The Monmouthshire Regiment, having served previously (and more adventurously) in the 'Shanghai Light Horse'. Liddell collaborated with A.W.Bahr in an exhibition in Shanghai in 1908 (he was Chairman of the North China branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, and in writing descriptions for it which were printed by A.W.Bahr, Old Chinese Porcelain and Works of Art in China, 1911. Charles Liddell had formed his collection, except for three pieces, while trading in China for nearly forty years. He purchased a number of them from two significant sources: the collection of Prince Chun, the last Regent of the Qing dynasty; and from the collection of the private secretary and adviser to Li Hongzhang. In May-June 1929 Bluett's offered part of the collection for sale, publishing a catalogue of The Liddell Collection of Old Chinese Porcelain with 229 entries and eight illustrative plates, one of them unusually in colour.

A related but larger famille rose figure of Guanyin on a separate lotus stand, Qianlong, was sold at Christie's Hong Kong, 29 April 2002, lot 705. see also a closely related famille rose figure of Guanyin on a lotus base, Qianlong, in Clandon Park, Surrey (acc.no.NT1440426.1).

利德爾上尉（Captain Charles Oswald Liddell），1854年生於愛丁堡。1877年移居中國，並為其家族企業一直在華工作至 1913年。1880年，他與Elizabeth Birt在上海聖公會大教堂舉行婚禮，隨後接手了Birt家族在上海的平和碼頭，並將業務擴展到杭州、天津和哈爾濱等地。平和洋行的英文商號在其弟John加入後改為Liddell Bros。利德爾曾服役於上海英租界輕騎隊，並於1915年任蒙默思郡團一營軍需長官和榮譽上尉。1908年，利德爾與巴爾（A.W.Bahr，時任皇家亞洲學會華北分會秘書）合作於上海舉辦展覽，巴爾將展覽描述集結成《中國古瓷美術譜（Old Chinese Porcelain and Works of Art in China）》並於1911年出版。利德爾的藏品，除其中三件以外，全數在其在華經商的近四十年間入藏；其中一大部分來自兩個重要渠道：清朝末代攝政王醇親王載灃的藏品，以及李鴻章的私人秘書兼顧問的收藏。1929年5月至6月期間，倫敦古董商Bluett's出售了利德爾的部分藏品，並出版了《利德爾收藏中國瓷器（The Liddell Collection of Old Chinese Porcelain）》圖錄，收錄了共計229件藏品並附8張插圖，其中甚至包含一幅頗不尋常的彩色插圖。

參考一件較此例稍大的清乾隆粉彩觀音像，坐於粉彩蓮座之上，售於香港佳士得，2002年4月29日，拍品編號705。英國國家名勝古蹟信託會員之薩里郡克蘭頓公園公館亦收藏一例清乾隆粉彩觀音像，藏品編號NT1440426.1，可為比對。