Page 24 - Bonhams Fine Chinese Art Nov 2013 London

15

15 This blanc-de-chine statue depicts the real historical figure of the
A fine blanc-de-chine archaistic incense burner military General Guan Yu (also known as Guandi and Guangong;
17th century died 219) who became glorified in the Ming Dynasty historical novel
The pure white body raised on a stepped foot and delicately incised Romance of the Three Kingdoms, attributed to Luo Guanzhong. The
around the middle with leiwen scrolls between ribbed bands, each historical novel narrates the battles and political manoeuvres of the
handle formed as a loop terminating with an animal head beneath the civil war between three kingdoms at the end of the Han Dynasty. In
flaring rim, all covered in a clear glaze of slightly bluish tone. the novel, Guan Yu’s deeds and moral qualities were lionised and
14.5cm (5¾in) wide he was hailed as a hero and protector of the people. His deification
£3,000 - 5,000 however, began long before this famous piece of literature was
HK$37,000 - 62,000 CNY29,000 - 49,000 published.

十七世紀 德化白瓷仿古紋雙獸耳爐 It was during the mid to late Ming period especially however, that
16 the worship revolving around military heroes, such as Guan Yu,
A blanc-de-chine figure of Guandi strengthened. This cult of Guan Yu was due in part to the Tumu crisis
17th century of 1449, when the Ming Emperor Zhengtong went on a haphazard
The figure finely modelled wearing a cloth cap tied in a simple knot military campaign against the Mongols, and was humiliatingly
over the head with two trailing ribbons, the face with steeply-slanting taken hostage. As such, whenever this otherwise civilian orientated
eyes beneath frowning brows and the mouth surrounded by holes for society was under threat from foreign invasion, military heroes were
a moustache and beard, the hands clasped across the rounded belly resuscitated. By the late Ming period, many temples and shrines in
and concealed beneath long flowing sleeves, the figure standing on dedication to Guan Yu sprang up.
an integral base deeply incised, all covered in a rich creamy glaze. A very similar blanc-de-chine figure of Guandi, the God of war, can
46cm (18 1/8in) high be found in the British Museum. See Jessica Harrison-Hall, Ming
£10,000 - 15,000 Ceramics in the British Museum, London, 2001, p 512.
HK$120,000 - 190,000 CNY98,000 - 150,000

十七世紀 德化白瓷關帝立像

22 | Bonhams