Lot 135. A large blue and white figure of Zhenwu, Ming dynasty, Wanli period (1573-1620). Height 32.7 cm. Estimate 10,000 - 15,000 USD. Unsold. © Sotheby's.

Provenance: San Francisco Private Collection.

Note: Zhenwu ('True Warrior'), also known as Xuanwu, is a high-ranking deity in Chinese religion and Daoism. Revered for his control over the water element, Zhenwu is identified as the god of the north or Heidi ('Black Emperor') and is also revered as the national guardian deity of the Ming dynasty, the subduer of demons, and the god of war.

The present lot is special for its unusually large size. Compare a closely related seated Zhengwu figure (ca. 34.6) from the Collection of C.T. Loo, exhibited in An Exhibition of Blue-Decorated Porcelain of the Ming Dynasty, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, 1949, cat. no. 126; also see a few related examples of smaller size, including a blue and white figure of a seated Daoist deity (ca. 25.7 cm), formerly in the Falk Collection, first sold at Christie's New York, 16th October 2001, lot 147, then in these rooms, 17th-18th September 2013, lot 303; a further example of a seated deity (ca. 25.5 cm), sold at Christie's Hong Kong, 7th June 2022, lot 3123.

Sotheby's. Chinese Art, New York, 18 September 2024