ANTIQUE CHINESE BLUE & WHITE PORCELAIN OPIUM PILLOW HEADREST

This unusual and rare Chinese glazed blue & white porcelain opium pillow headrest is shaped in the form of two children lying beneath a large lotus leaf canopy. The boy and girl are lying on their sides with their heads resting on pillows of their own, the girl holding a lotus bud and the boy holding a lotus seed pod. The lotus leaf top is curved to contour to the neck and has a incised design with twin dragons soaring through clouds towards a flaming pearl. The base of the headrest is in the form of a footed rectangular platform, decorated in low relief with dragons and interlocking coins. Date made unknown, estimate circa early twentieth century.