China, 1368-1644. Each powerfully modeled to depict Zhenwu and Wenchang, both standing in a dynamic stride with one leg supported on a raised platform, dressed in long robes and boots. Wenchang is holding a brush and a plaque in his hands, while Zhenwu wears a helmet. The tiles are covered in green, ochre, straw, and black glazes.

Provenance: Collection of Sarah McNeal Few, thence by descent in the same family. Gifted to the Speed Art Museum, Louisville, Kentucky, USA, in 2023, accession number P2023.1.9 a,b. Sarah McNeal Few (1938-2015) was an interior designer with the Strassel Company from 1963-1982, serving as a protégé of Louise A. Mendel. She spent 1982-1989 as a partner in Allen House, and in 1989 founded her own firm, Sarah McNeal Few Company. Her design work took her from Canada to the British West Indies and from Aiken, S.C., to New York City, Louisiana, and Florida. A New York City town house was featured in the November 1968 issue of Architectural Digest portraying her style at its best. She was an avid collector and a passionate advocate for not only the Speed Art Museum, which she was the first woman to chair, but also the Actors Theatre of Louisville of which she was a founder. The Speed Art Museum is the oldest, largest, and foremost museum of art in Kentucky, USA. The Speed houses ancient, classical, and modern art from around the world. Hattie Bishop Speed established the museum in memoriam of her husband James Breckenridge Speed, a prominent Louisville businessman, art collector, and philanthropist.
Condition: Overall good condition with expected wear, minor nicks, chips to the extremities, and firing flaws including firing cracks, and glaze flaking. One figure with a few cracks to the rockwork. The other figure with minor losses to the finial of the helmet. The metal mounts with little wear, nicks, and dents. The shades with minor wear and few loose threads.

Weight: 7.2 kg and 8 kg (incl. stands)
Dimensions: Height 42.3 cm and 45 cm (incl. stands, excl. shades), total height c. 81 cm (incl. stands and shades)

Each affixed to an associated bronze stand and mounted as a lamp. The lamp shades with circular jade finials carved and pierced with the Hehe Erxian, dating from the early 20^th century. (8)

Glazed tiles are today considered one of the hallmarks of classical Chinese architecture. However, despite their popularity in modern times, they were relatively scarce until after the end of the Tang Dynasty. Even then, during the Song and Yuan Dynasties, they were still infrequently used. It was not until the rise of the Ming Dynasty that glazed tiles became a popular decorative devise extensively employed in temples, altars, imperial palaces, and gardens. Beijing became the center of glazed architectural tile production during the Ming period, and colorfully decorated pagodas began to sprout up around this region.

Literature comparison:
Compare a related sancai-glazed roof tile depicting a demon striking a similar pose, dated c. 1490-1620, 37 cm high, in the British Museum, registration number 1946,0715.14. Compare a related sancai-glazed roof tile depicting Yanluo, King of Hell, dated 1523, in the Royal Ontario Museum.