Earthquake Predictor as Status Symbol – Nodding Porcelain Chinoiserie

A plump grotesque porcelain figure in the Asian style – the head nods, the hands bob up and down, and the tongue lolls in the smiling mouth – this is a magot, which is a late 17^th century term for such seated ‘oriental’ figures. Many of these figures were said to be modeled after the smiling Chinese god of happiness and abundance, Pu Tai. Two such figures gave the Parisian café its name, as this café has a pair of these figures displayed on a bracket mounted on the wall: and that is the famed ‘Les Deux Magots.’

WG has a pair of these that represents the late 17^th and early 18^th century taste for the exotic, a great wave of a fad called chinoiserie that swept over all of Europe. Although WG’s “noddy” magots are a great example of this style, other examples include 18^th and 19^th century European crafted furniture whose lacquerware featured Asian-themed scenes and motifs. 

These nodding figures were works of artistic engineering as well as highly collectible art objects in the 18^th century. The nodding head and neck were separate pieces of the figure, the head mounted to a lead-filled weight. The hands were similarly balanced as separate inserts hung with weights inside the cuffs. These crafted figures were status symbols displayed in aristocratic homes; the superstition was that they were good luck, as they could predict earthquakes!

The first nodding magot figures were exported by Chinese porcelain artists through trade with Venetian dealers in the late 17^th century. Dutch ships to China could not keep up with the demand for these novelties, and European porcelain houses began imitating these strange figures. The most famous European-produced magots were the 18^th century figures produced by Meissen, but other German porcelain houses in the towns of Dresden and Rudolstadt copied these as well. French porcelain houses caught on: magots were produced by Saint Claude, Samson, and Chantilly. Northern Italian porcelain houses picked up the design, and Piedmontese craftsman produced them in papier-mâché. It seems odd that figures so grotesque were in such demand, but they were! 

So popular were these figures in the mid-18^th century that the man of letters and philosopher Denis Diderot (1713-1784) said of this craze to collect these figures: “…these precious knick-knacks with which the country has become infatuated have banished more tasteful ornaments from our apartments. The reign of Louis XV is the reign of magots.” He also gave a section in his Encyclopédie to magot figures. His Encyclopédie was one of the principal works of the Age of Enlightenment.

Like WG’s magots, robes over fat bellies were decorated with floral motifs inspired by the imported Chinese and Japanese silks of the early 18^th century, as well as by the ornately patterned Indian cotton fabrics arriving via the East India Companies. These figures, like WG’s noddy magots, were made of soft paste porcelain with polychrome enamel decoration.

One of the most expensive magots sold recently was a noddy headed figure fashioned from precious stones by Carl Fabergé for Tzar Nicholas II, the last Emperor of Russia, in 1900. This was a seated nodding magot with moveable hands carved in precious bowenite, set with rubies, diamonds, pearls, and enamel. Fabergé visited Dresden, had also seen the Meissen porcelain magot, and fell in love with the idea of creating a carved precious stone magot set with diamonds and rubies. Fabergé’s magot even had a lolling movable tongue made of a carved ruby.

A pair of standing nodding magots, both female ladies of the Chinese court, were exported in the 18^th century from China and classified as Chinese Export Porcelain wares – a historic category of Chinese porcelain manufacture largely destined for Europe and North America between the 16th and the 20th century. This pair is to be offered on October 8 as having formerly belonged to the late Senator Dianne Feinstein, Bonham’s Auctions in Los Angeles calling the event Legacy of a Stateswoman. This pair is stated to be sold at $4,000-$6,000. 

WG asked that I write about her pair of magots, dear to her as having been descended from her father. Hers are late 18^th century German porcelain pieces. Both have the elongated earlobes associated with luck and good fortune. Although these are not popular in the market today due to a change of taste and inevitable discernment of political correctness, 50 years ago they were worth $1,500 each. I would place the value today at $1,500 if the pair were in perfect condition. The pair are a great example of changes in what is considered ‘exotic’. Once 18^th century status symbols only displayed in the best homes, they are a difficult sell today.