A pair of Dehua (Blanc De Chine) Dutchmen on horses

康熙德化白瓷馬上西人一對

China, Qing dynasty, Kangxi period

Each figure is covered in a finely translucent, creamy white glaze. The horsemen wear long sleeved, buttoned riding coats with neckerchiefs, leggings and boots. In his extended right hand, each grasps the hilt of a sword, probably once fitted with a blade fashioned from another material, while the clenched left hand appears originally to have held separate reins. Both wear shoulder length wigs beneath broad brimmed hats, one retaining traces of reddish brown pigment.

The riders are mounted on spirited, powerfully modelled horses, each turning its head sharply backwards. Their bridles are carefully articulated, while their pricked ears, wide open eyes and alert expressions lend them an engaging sense of animation. Particular attention has been given to the animals’ muscular bodies and the subtle rendering of their coats, creating an impression of movement and vitality.

The elaborate European dress of the riders, together with the substantial shabracks covering the horses, suggests that they represent aristocratic horsemen. Such saddlecloths were associated with tournaments, ceremonial processions and other displays of courtly and military splendour. The compositions were probably derived from European prints or engraved portraits.

Their commanding poses recall contemporary equestrian representations of noblemen and military leaders, in which the mounted figure served as an expression of rank, authority and martial accomplishment.

The French term Blanc de Chine, meaning “China white”, entered Western scholarship during the nineteenth century and refers to the white porcelains produced at Dehua, in present day Dehua County, Quanzhou, Fujian Province. Dehua porcelain is distinguished by its fine, highly vitrified white body and clear, lustrous glaze.

The local porcelain stone contains very little iron, allowing the wares to fire in tones ranging from cool white to warm ivory and cream. These varied hues have traditionally been described as ivory white, milk white, “pork fat white” and “scallion root white”. Early examples are often further characterised by a dense paste, a thick, creamy glaze, a subtly sugary texture and an unglazed base displaying fine firing fissures.

Ceramic production at Dehua can be traced to the Song and Yuan dynasties, from approximately the tenth to the fourteenth century. The kilns reached their greatest period of artistic and commercial prosperity between the sixteenth and eighteenth centuries, when potters refined their materials and techniques and adapted forms inspired by bronze, lacquer, jade, rhinoceros horn and other branches of the decorative arts.

The Dehua kilns produced a wide variety of objects, including bowls, cups, dishes, vases, censers, boxes, drinking vessels and implements for the scholar’s table. Their most distinctive achievement, however, was sculptural modelling. Buddhist and Daoist deities, luohan, Bodhidharma, Budai, Guanyin, secular figures and animals were all produced in considerable variety.

The development of Dehua sculpture may have been influenced in part by carved ivory and white jade figures, whose smooth surfaces, pale tones and softly rounded forms find close parallels in the finest blanc de Chine porcelain.

These qualities are clearly evident in the present pair, particularly in the softly modelled faces, flowing costumes and luminous monochrome surfaces. At the same time, their European dress and equestrian imagery demonstrate the remarkable ability of Dehua potters to reinterpret foreign subjects through the established materials, techniques and sculptural language of the kilns.