A Chinese Export Famille-Rose 'Monkey' Figural Group, Qing Dynasty | 清 粉彩輩輩封侯擺件

A closely related example, also with a young monkey atop an adult monkey's back, sold at Christie's London, April 7 1997, and illustrated in Michael Cohen and William Motley, Mandarin and Menagerie, Reigate, 2008, p. 200, cat. no. 14.4. The authors note that the image of a monkey with its young on its back is a particularly auspicious rebus: bei bei feng hou （輩輩封侯）, demonstrating a wish that generations to come will occupy high court positions.