A RARE BRONZE 'QIAO SISTERS' GROUP

Description:

China, late Song to early Ming dynasty
H. 11 cm
The sisters are elegantly seated close to each other in European posture with one lady bending slightly over to the other, one holding with her raised left hand a book while the right hand is grasping a fan, the other sister is embracing the shoulder of the other with her right arm while her left hand is gently resting on the other’s left arm in orde to balance herself while reading together the book, both sisters are wearing various garments including wide-sleeved mantles tightly draped around their necks, falling in large pleats down their legs leaving their shoed feet partly bare and secured with ribbons knotted to the front, their faces are finely cast by the artist in upper concentration of reading the book with downcast eyes below arched eyebrows running into the nose-bridges and their hairdos are combed in neatly tied chignons, traces of gilt-lacquer.
Since more than 100 years property of the family. Bought by Dr. Adam Breuer ( 1868 - 1944 ) around 1900 for his collection in London where he worked as an Ophthalmologist and eye surgeon. Thanking him to having regained her eyesight, a patient gave him a Ming - vase, this sparked his passion for collecting East Asian art. At the beginning of WW1 the collection was shipped to Berlin camouflaged as medical device. In 1929 almost the whole collection was offered at the auction house of Paul Cassirer but due to the bad economic situation many pieces were not sold. In 1945 the collection was packed in boxes, buried deep in the garden and large bushes were planted on it. When the Russian soldiers came and sifted through the garden with long iron poles, they found nothing. After the war the collection was housed temporarily in the depot of the Ostasiatisches Museum in Cologne and came to the son, Dr. Richard Breuer ( 1912 - 2006 ) by inheritance. He was a lawyer and sinologist, working as a German diplomat in Tokyo and Hong Kong, and being an East Asia expert he enlarged the collection. Dr. Adam Breuer was also the founder of the art magazine „Die Weltkunst“ which was family owned for 60 years, led by Carlos. A. Breuer.
Published:
Sales catalogue, 'Die Sammlung Dr. A. Breuer', Berlin, Ostasiatische Kunst, with introduction of Prof. Dr. Otto Kümmel, Paul Cassirer and Hugo Helbig, 15.5.1929, p. 58, no. 246, ill. plate XXII, no. 246; Ostasiatische Zeitschrift, Neue Folge 3, Tafel 20; Ausstellung chinesischer Kunst, Berlin 1929, no. 495.
The Qiao sisters became legendary as literary characters in Luo Guanzhong's novel 'The Story of Three Kingdoms' for their beauty and for marrying two famous war heroes. They were the daughters of the official Qiao Xuan (109-83) of the late Han dynasty, with one marrying the warlord Sun Ce, and the other marrying Sun's close friend, General Zhou Yu. Since their names have not been handed down, they are called Da Qiao (the elder) and Qiao (the younger).