Page 92 - Reginald and Lena Palmer Collection EXHIBITION, Bonhams London Oct 25 to November 2 2021
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Image courtesy of the Palace Museum, Beijing
Although the present figure does not have a maker’s mark, stylistically Little documentary evidence remains for He Chaozong apart from
it closely resembles figures of Bodhidharma made by He Chaozong extant examples of his ceramic art. A gazetteer entry for 1763
(by tradition, living 1522-1612) considered to be one of the greatest mentions him with other art notables of the Ming dynasty and
master potters of Dehua. See for example, a very similar blanc-de- establishes that the artist had earned a considerable reputation by
Chine figure of Bodhidharma, He Chaozong mark, Ming dynasty, in his own day. He Chaozong and the few other artists of the Dehua
the Qing Court Collection, illustrated in Dehua Wares Collected by the kilns, who mostly marked their work with their own seals rather than
Palace Museum I, Beijing, 2016, pp.28-29, no.1. reign marks, were nearly unique in Chinese ceramic history which was
characterised by anonymous and industrial scale production.
He Chaozong was famous for creating figures of pure white clay with
a creamy ‘ivory’-like glaze. By absorbing various techniques of clay Bodhidharma or Damo in Chinese, was a monk of Indian origin who
modelling, wood tooling and ivory carving, He Chaozong developed travelled to China in the sixth century, and whose teachings became
his own method which became known as the He School, famous for the foundation of Chan (Zen) Buddhism. Damo is often depicted
the exceptional fluidity of the flowing robes and water, the remarkable standing barefoot on a reed leaf, representing the story when he
finesse in the modelling of details such as fingers and toes and the crossed the Yangtze river in this manner.
beauty and serenity of the faces of the figures. Another very similar
Damo figure with a ‘He Chaozong yin’ impressed mark, is in the Wang
Xin Lou collection, illustrated in Blanc de Chine: Divine Images in
Porcelain, New York, 2002, no.27.
90 | BONHAMS
