These figures are also called “Dogs of Fo” (fo being Chinese for Buddha). Here they are lying on their backs clutching openwork brocaded balls, one of which has a taper or joss stick holder set into its top with a lotus petal lip. They are both enamelled on the biscuit in green, yellow and aubergine, the rectangular bases with similarly coloured trellis pattern panels.

Literature: Anthony du Boulay, The Duberly Collection of Chinese Art at Winchester College (Winchester, 2019), p. 76

Provenance: Bequeathed as part of the Duberly Collection, 1978; one (with joss stick holder) purchased by Major Montagu and Lady Eileen Duberly from  S.L. Moss, 6 June 1948 (£30); the other (without joss stick holder) purchased from John Sparks, 9 June 1954 (£50)

Location: Treasury, Gallery 2