Unrecorded Chelsea Porcelain Figure of Chinese Woman, Joseph Willems

An unrecorded Chelsea porcelain figure of a Chinese woman, the modelling attributed to Joseph Willems. English circa 1754/5, red anchor mark. Provenance: Albert Amor Ltd London 01/05/2015 (7500 pounds). Robert Burke collection no 103. Reference: Yvonne Hackenbroch, The Irwin Untermeyer Collection figure 39, plates 29.3 for a figure of a Chinese boy relating to this figure his robes similarly painted to this figure. The distinctive scroll base to this figure is also unrecorded. This figure is not recorded in the literature but fits well within a small group of Chelsea red anchor figures modelled in the Chinese style by Joseph Willems. The group includes two similar models of three Chinese musicians attended by a boy, one in the Victoria and Albert Museum (Museum Number C.40-1974) and the other illustrated by Yvonne Hackenbroch, The Irwin Untermyer Collection (1957), fig 39, pls.29-3. The outer garment of one of the three adult musicians on the Untermyer example is painted with florets which are very similar to those on the dress of the present lot. Other figures within the group include a pair of Chinese boy musicians on tree stumps, illustrated by Elizabeth Adams, Chelsea Porcelain (2001), fig 9.1, p.119, another Chinese boy musician from the same series sold Bonhams London 6 June 2007, lot 211, and a perhaps slightly earlier pair of a Chinaman and a man wearing a Chinese mask, illustrated by Peter Bradshaw, 18th Century English Porcelain Figures (1981), p.106. The present lot is the only figure in the group to exhibit the distinctive scrolled base. 8.46 in. high, base 2.44 in. wide