Lot 3. A Longquan celadon shrine of the South Sea Guanyin, Ming Dynasty, 15th Century; 9¾ in. (24.7 cm.) high. Estimate 2,000 - GBP 3,000. Price realised GBP 2,390. © Christie's Images Ltd 2002.
Modelled with the deity seated under an arch of openwork scrolling foliage, on rockwork above breaking waves, flanked by a young male and female attendant, the figures left in the biscuit, the reverse pierced with two circular openings, the glaze of grey-green tone thinning to lighter shades over the extremities, small areas of restoration to the attendants, short hairline cracks.
Note: The South Sea Guanyin is a form of the bodhisattva Avalokitesvara particular to Chinese Buddhism. The legend explains that a young woman by the name of Miaoshan was martyred and transformed into a manifestation of Avalokitesvara for her piety, and thereafter resided at her South Sea island abode, Potalaka. See Kaikado Journal, Spring 2000, no. 73.
Compare a shrine of larger size in the Illustrated Catalogue of the Tokyo National Museum: Chinese Ceramics, II, Tokyo, 1990, p.20, no. 520; and another illustrated in Porcelains from the Tianjin Municipal Museum, Hong Kong, 1993, no. 68
Christie's. Chinese Ceramics & Chinese Export Ceramics & Works of Art, London, 12 November 2002
