Page 67 - Art D'Asie Paris

glazed qingbai Buddhist fgures, where kam, op. cit., no. 25), and the Yuan dynasty

the unglazed areas were intended to be qingbai glazed seated bodhisattva in the

covered with lacquer. This can be seen Metropolitan Museum, New York is 50.8

on a seated, qingbai glazed, fgure of the cm. tall (illustrated by S. Pierson, op.

Buddha Amitabha is in the collection of cit., pp. 218-9, no. 122). A bodhisattva

the Beijing Art Museum (exhibited by in the collection of Mr. Alan Chuang,

Christie’s New York in Treasures from which is notable for its particularly fne

Ancient Beijing, 2000, exhibit no. 7). jewellery and also its size, is 67 cm. high.

This fgure, dated to the Yuan dynasty, The appearance of larger fgures in the

has robes, which are partially lacquered, Yuan dynasty towards the end of the

apparently over areas of the porcelain left 13th century can be explained not only by

free of glaze. Gilded designs, representing changing tastes, but also by changes in

the patterns on the robe are painted on technology - specifcally to the porcelain

the lacquered areas. The partial glazing body material used at Jingdezhen. The

of a Yuan dynasty seated qingbai Buddha new body material contained more kaolin

(fg. 1) in the collection of the Shanghai and thus more alumina, which facilitated

Museum (illustrated in the production of larger

Qingbai Ware: Chinese fgures, and indeed vessels.

porcelain of the Song and However a number of
Yuan Dynasties, S. Pierson extant Yuan dynasty fgures,
(ed.), London, 2002, pp. including the current fgure,
208-9, no. 117), suggests fall into a size group which
that it too would originally falls somewhere between
have had lacquer applied the smaller Southern Song
to the unglazed parts of its fgures and the very large
robe. The lacquer seems Yuan fgures. A elaborately
to have adhered rather bejewelled Yuan dynasty

tenuously to the porcelain Guanyin in the collection
and was very susceptible of C.P. Lin (illustrated by R.

to damage, which would Scott in Elegant Form and

explain why none can now fg. 1 - Yuan dynasty seated Harmonious Decoration:
be seen on the Shanghai qingbai Buddha, Shanghai Four Dynasties of Jingdezhen
fgure. These fgures are 51 Museum. Porcelain, London, 1992,
cm. and 41.3 cm. in height, p. 20, no. 4) is slightly

respectively - somewhat larger than the smaller than the current fgure, as is a

current fgure. A Yuan dynasty seated Yuan Guanyin in the collection of the

Guanyin in the Nelson-Atkins Museum Victoria and Albert Museum (illustrated

of Art, Kansas City, dated by inscription by S. Pierson, op. cit., pp. 216-7, no. 121).

to AD 1298 or 1299, is 51.4 cm. tall, A seated qingbai fgure of Guanyin sold

and is fully glazed except for the fgure's by Christie’s Hong Kong, 26 November,

underskirt, which has been left unglazed, 2014, lot 3102, also belongs to this group,

possibly to allow for the application of the sizes of which range from 30 cm. to

lacquer (illustrated by S.E. Lee and Ho 38 cm. While the majority of the very large

Wai-kam, Chinese Art Under the Mongols: Yuan dynasty porcelain fgures have open

The Yüan Dynasty (1279-1368), Cleveland, bases, a number of this smaller group

Ohio, 1968, no. 26). have closed bases – as in the case of the

The Yuan dynasty porcelain fgures with current Buddha fgure. The current fgure
qingbai glaze are frequently larger than may also be compared with another Yuan
their Southern Song counterparts. The dynasty, fully-glazed, seated Buddha,
famous qingbai glazed Yuan dynasty exhibited in Hong Kong by the Oriental
Bodhisattva seated in Maharaja lilasana, Ceramic Society and the Fung Ping Shan
which was excavated in 1955 from Dingfu Museum in Jingdezhen Wares – The Yuan
Street in the western suburbs of Beijing, Evolution, 1984, no. 24. The exhibited
is 67 cm. tall. This fgure is now in the fgure shares a number of similar features,
Capital Museum, Beijing (illustrated especially the drapery and the treatment
in Complete Collection of Ceramic Art of the hair, but the right hand is held in a
Unearthed in China – 1 – Beijing, Beijing, diferent mudra, and it is slightly smaller
2008, no. 81). Another qingbai glazed than the current seated Buddha.

seated Bodhisattva in the collection of

the Rietberg Museum, Zurich, is 52 cm. in

height (illustrated by S.E. Lee and Ho Wai-

65