Laughing Budai, China, Kangxi period (1662 – 1722), circa 1720. Photo courtesy Vanderven Oriental Art

Enamel on Biscuit Porcelain Figure of Budai. Height : 14,5 cm. Price on request

This enamel on biscuit figure of a Budai (Maitreya Buddha), is also known as the Laughing Buddha (Budai Heshang) in China. He is traditionally depicted as a fat bald man with elongated earlobes, wearing a Kasaya robe, his breast and large abdomen exposed. The robe of this figure is enamelled in a chequered pattern of green, black, blue, aubergine, yellow and white - which is the unenamelled biscuit ground. His cheerful features, moustache and goatee are picked out in black. One bare foot peeks out from under his robes and a shoe is placed in front of him. He is sitting on a plaited tatami mat with a herringbone pattern in green with black shading. The figure is on its original wooden base. 

The Budai Heshang is so called after the hemp sack he carries, in which he was said to keep his few possessions. Being poor but content, his figure appears throughout Chinese culture as a representation of contentment, plenitude and wisdom. One belief in folklore is that rubbing his belly brings wealth, good luck, and prosperity. He often depicted holding or wearing prayer beads. The sack and beads are omitted here, instead he holds a scroll in his right hand, which might be folded sutras.  

This figure of the Budai is based on an eccentric Chan (Zen) monk during the Later Liang Dynasty (907-923). After his death at the Yuelin Temple, another monk encounters him and asks him to return a shoe that has been taken by mistake from the temple. Later when the monk realizes that Budai has already died when they met, he opens the coffin to find nothing but an abandoned shoe. This story is reflected in this ceramic work by the single shoe in front of the figure.  

This type of figure were popular in the domestic market in China, and because of his mirthful expression, also a popular export product. In France they were popularly named magot and used as elements in assemblages, where they would be mounted in bronze with other objects. Their popularity ensured they were copied by European potters in Meissen and Vienna.  

Literature:
• John Ayres, The Chinese Porcelain Collection of Marie Vergottis, Lausanne, 2004, pl 114 

• Michael Beurdeley & Guy Raindre, Qing Porcelain; Famille Verte, Famille Rose. New York, 1987, pl. 117 

• William R. Sargent, The Copeland Collection, Chinese and Japanese Ceramic Figures; The Peabody Museum of Salem, 1991, pl. 44 & 54 

Vanderven Oriental Art - http://www.vanderven-vanderven.com/