Description
Dignitary couple. China. Ming Dynasty, 17th century. Glazed ceramic. Measurements: 40 x 10 x 10 cm. Couple of aristocratic characters in round figures, in glazed ceramic. Both dignitaries wear long tunics and appear with cylindrical hats that show their social rank. Their facial features, with slanted eyes and thin mouths, include elongated earlobes, symbolising both status and wisdom. It is modelled on the engobe-decorated ceramics of the Ming dynasty. The Ming dynasty is one of the longest periods in Chinese history, lasting approximately three centuries. After the Yuan period of foreign domination, the Ming period saw the re-establishment of traditional Chinese values. The seventeen emperors of this dynasty reigned in a state of relative peace and prosperity and belonged to the Han ethnic group (the majority in China), as did the civil service. The economy was transformed from an agrarian to a fully mercantile state at the end of the dynasty.
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Dignitary couple. China. Ming Dynasty, 17th century. Glazed ceramic. Measurements: 40 x 10 x 10 cm. Couple of aristocratic characters in round figures, in glazed ceramic. Both dignitaries wear long tunics and appear with cylindrical hats that show their social rank. Their facial features, with slanted eyes and thin mouths, include elongated earlobes, symbolising both status and wisdom. It is modelled on the engobe-decorated ceramics of the Ming dynasty. The Ming dynasty is one of the longest periods in Chinese history, lasting approximately three centuries. After the Yuan period of foreign domination, the Ming period saw the re-establishment of traditional Chinese values. The seventeen emperors of this dynasty reigned in a state of relative peace and prosperity and belonged to the Han ethnic group (the majority in China), as did the civil service. The economy was transformed from an agrarian to a fully mercantile state at the end of the dynasty.