Page 260 - Christies King St. FINE CHINESE CERAMICS AND WORKS OF ART

PROPERTY OF A EUROPEAN LADY

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A LARGE DEHUA FIGURE OF GUANYIN
18TH CENTURY

清十八世紀 德化白瓷觀世音菩薩立像

The serene fgure is modelled standing upon swirling waves, with her hair tied
in an intricate chignon, and with downcast eyes and a serene expression. She
is holding the edge of her long voluminous robes in her left hand and a scroll in
the other. The back is impressed with a four-character seal mark which may be
identifed as boji yuren.

35 in. (89 cm.) high

£80,000-120,000 $130,000-180,000
€110,000-160,000

PROVENANCE:

With S. Bulgari, Rome.

The goddess Guanyin, also known as the bodhisattva Avalokitesvara, is
venerated as the goddess of mercy and compassion. One of the most popular
subjects in Chinese art, early representations portray the deity as male, but
by the Qing dynasty, particularly in porcelain, she was depicted as a beautiful
female. Legend relates that she was a daughter of a sovereign of the Chou
Dynasty and refused her father’s command for her to marry, preferring to
enter a convent. She was thus put to death and was thought to have gone
straight to hell, whereupon her arrival the fames turned to fowers and she
was sent back to life to the island of Potala on a lotus leaf.

Seal marks referred to as ‘fsherman’ marks usually read boji yuren, translated
as ‘virtue extends to all, even fshermen.’ This type of commendation mark
does not refer to or indicate a specifc potter and sometimes appears on its
own, or accompanied by the mark for Dehua

來源: 歐洲私人珍藏，購自羅馬古董商S. Bulgari

(mark)

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