Qianlong period circa 1790
European Market
Height: 8 inches; 21cm
from the Golden Gate Collection,  GG1106

Priced in US dollars  
$2,250
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A Chinese export porcelain figure of a Hehe Erxian/Liu Hai group, with two figures seated on a rock, a three-legged toad between them, in bright famille rose enamels.


This shows the two laughing boys known as hehe erxian or the Twin Immortals of Harmony. They are the patron deities of Chinese merchants, particularly of Chinese potters, and in paintings they often accompany Caishen, God of Wealth. So in this case the boy on the left has a string of cash by his head and a lotus flower, and is also an emboidment of the Immortal Liu Hai. The boy on the right has a basket containing cash.  The three-legged money toad, jin chan, is below them on the rock base to complete the symbolism.

References: Litzenburg 2003, p215, a similar example; Sargent 1991, No 25 a famille verte biscuit porcelain group of the twins.