Pair of Famille Rose Rooster Hat Stands

Brilliantly colored with pastel enamels, these porcelain hat stands were once used by a Qing-dynasty gentleman to display his caps while they weren't in use. The hat stands are decorated in the famille rose style, a decorative technique that employs opaque overglaze enamels in a soft palette of pinks, yellows, blues, and greens.

Accented with quatrefoil cutouts to provide airflow, these cylindrical hat stands are hand-painted with roosters in a garden of peonies, a common motif symbolizing the pleasures of a simple country life. The colorful scene is bordered by rectangular lappets at the base and bands of auspicious ruyi and linear fretwork at the neck.