A VERY RARE PAIR OF CLOISONNÉ ENAMEL AND GILT-BRONZE KNEELING 'FOREIGNER' CANDLESTICKSKangxi Each figure finely cast with one sturdy arm raised to support the shaped drip pan surmounted by a columnar pricket, the other hand resting on the hip, dressed in a tunic with dragons over crashing waves, the lower half with lotus scrolls, the head encircled with a fillet over bushy eyebrows and large bulging eyes, the mouths in gentle smiles between ears suspending loose earrings, each mirroring the other in a half kneel pose. Each 30cm (12in) high. (2). 清康熙 鎏金銅胎掐絲琺瑯胡人燭臺一對 Provenance : Sir Michael Oppenheimer (3rd Baronet, 1924-2020) and Lady Helen Oppenheimer DD (1926-2022), and thence by descent 來源 ：Michael Oppenheimer 爵士（三代從男爵，1924-2020年）與Helen Oppenheimer爵士夫人（1926-2022年）舊藏，並由後人保存迄今 The collection belonged to Sir Michael and Lady Oppenheimer DD (3rd Baronet, 1924-2020). Sir Michael's maternal grandparents were Sir Robert Grenville Harvey, 2nd Baronet (1856-1931) and Lady Emily Blanche Harvey (1872-1935) of Langley Park, Buckinghamshire. The Chinese art collection can be, at least in part, traced back to Langley Park, Buckinghamshire, home to the Harvey Baronets from 1788 until 1945, as demonstrated in a pre-1945 photograph showing Lot122, the cloisonné enamel tripod 'elephant' incense burner, Qianlong. Sir Michael Oppenheimer's paternal family was the well-known South African mining family. The baronetcy was created in 1921 for Bernard Oppenheimer, Chairman of the South African Diamond Corporation for setting up diamond sorting factories to employ wounded ex-servicemen after the First World War. The family has been involved with De Beers over many decades. Lady Oppenheimer DD (1926-2022) was a distinguished moral and philosophical theologian, with a particular interest in the ethics pertaining to personal relations. Superbly cast and meticulously decorated with multiple coloured enamels, the present candlesticks are remarkable examples displaying the high standards achieved in the Imperial workshops during the Kangxi reign. Figures of foreigners depicted with large rounded eyes and bushy eyebrows have been a popular subject in Chinese art dating from at least the Tang period, when the increased presence of foreigners in China prompted a new fascination and a gradual stylisation of the image of the foreigner in Chinese art. Painters of Buddhist luohan and tribute missions to the Imperial Court continued the fascination with the exotic in subsequent periods. The strong facial features, curly beards and hair held in place by a curving metal fillet displayed by the present foreigners closelypare with four small foreigners with bare chests kneeling to support a gilt bronze and cloisonné enamel incense of burner, early Qing dynasty: see Theplete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum, Metal-Bodied Enamel Ware , Beijing, 2011, p.106, no.79. See also a related cloisonné candlestick supporte