A Rare Pair of Chinese Export Figures of Hawks, Qing Dynasty, Qianlong Period

For three various models of hawk figures see Michael Cohen and William Motley, Mandarin and Menagerie, Reigate, 2008, pp. 268-271, with a very similarly modelled pair depicted on p. 269, no. 19.1. The authors note that hawks in Chinese are known as ‘ying’, a homophone for ‘heroic’, and that a hawk on a rock is a symbol of heroism standing fast in the world. Hawks were widely depicted in Chinese art and the flying of hawks was a pursuit of emperors and the nobility. Pairs of hawks were sold in our London rooms, November 5, 2014, lots 308 and 322, and May 11, 2011, lot 328.