Page 347 - 2019 September 13th Christie's New York Important Chinese Works of Art

1113
A RARE DEHUA STANDING FIGURE OF BUDAI
17TH CENTURY
The laughing fgure is modeled with the head turned slightly to
the proper left, the robes falling open to reveal a rounded belly,
and the right hand holding a peach. The fgure is shown standing
on a knotted treasure sack.
11º in. (28.6 cm.) high
$20,000-30,000

PROVENANCE
Vilhelm Meyer (1878-1935) Collection, Denmark.
Private collection, Denmark.
It is very rare to fnd a fgure of Budai standing on his treasure
sack produced at the Dehua kilns. Dehua standing fgures are
more commonly found in the form of the Buddha, the monk
Damo, or Guanyin, while fgures of Budai are more typically
depicted in a seated position. The present fgure can be closely
compared to other standing fgures of the seventeenth century
in the modeling of the folds of the robe, the delicacy of the
fngers (in this instance, holding a peach) and the rounded form
of the base, often modeled as waves but in this instance formed
as the treasure sack, an attribute of Budai.

A Dehua standing Budai fgure from the Koger Collection in
The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art, Florida, was
included in the China Institute exhibition, Blanc de Chine: Divine
Images in Porcelain, and illustrated by J. Ayers in the catalogue,
New York, 2002, p. 88, no. 39. Another example, dated early to
mid-seventeenth century, but slightly smaller than the present
fgure, is illustrated by R. Blumenfeld, Blanc de Chine: The
Great Porcelain of Dehua, Berkeley/Toronto, 2002, p. 72, fg. C.
Another very unusual fgure of a standing Budai, modeled with
his arms raised above his head and standing on what appears
to be a cloud-form base, dated 1700-1750, is illustrated by P. J.
Donnelly, Blanc de Chine: The Porcelain of Tehua in Fukien, New
York/Washington, p. 161 and pl. 88C.
A seated fgure of Budai, with similar expression and open robe,
dated to the seventeenth century, is illustrated by M. Medley,
The World’s Great Collections: Oriental Ceramics, Vol. 6, The
Percival David Foundation of Chinese Art, London, Tokyo/New
York/San Francisco, 1982, no. 201, ref. 497.
十七世紀 德化布袋和尚立像

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