Two Chinese carved coral meiren

The larger figure standing adorned in a flowing robe, bearing a bamboo cane in her left hand and grasping a ribbon-tied bunch of lilies with her right; the smaller figure bearing a vase of flowers and a large whisk in her hands, both with carved wood stands (2).

(H: 8 1/2 in. (without stands); H: 10 in. (with stands))

Provenance: Property formerly in the Collection of Eldridge Reeves Fenimore Johnson (1899-1986)
Thence by descent in the family.

NOTE: E. R. F. Johnson was a noted explorer, yachtsman and researcher. He was a pioneer in the development of underwater photography and had close ties with the University of Pennsylvania, where a collection of his photographs are preserved. His father was Eldridge Reeves Johnson (1867-1945), the founder of the Victor Talking Machine Company, later RCA. It is very possible these may have been originally acquired by the elder E. R. Johnson, given that he gave Chinese works of art to the University of Pennsylvania Museum in 1920 and 1927, including the large crystal ball said to have belonged to the Dowager Empress Cixi, the pair of carved stone reliefs of the favorite horses of the Tang Emperor Taizong, and numerous jade and coral carvings.