Lot 136. A magnificent and exceptionally large 'Dehua' figure of standing Guanyin, By He Chaozong, 17th century. Height 52 cm. Estimate 600,000 - 800,000 USD. Lot sold 635,000 USD. © Sotheby's 2025

the reverse with an impressed He Chaozong seal mark.

Provenance: American Private Collection, acquired between 1971 and 1981.

Note: This extraordinary sculpture exudes an ethereal elegance. Delicately crafted, with intricate folds in the robe cascading like ripples of silk, the figure simultaneously embodies both movement and stillness while its bright glazed surface gleams with a soft and pure luminosity. Every detail, from the gentle gestures of the hands to the intricate ornamentation of the hair, speaks to an extraordinary level of craftsmanship and artistry – a level attained by only the most prestigious of Dehua artisans and, chief among them, He Chaozong.

For an artisan with such an enduring legacy, remarkably little is known about the life of He Chaozong. While some have pointed to the Quanzhou fu zhi [Gazetteer of Quanzhou Prefecture], dating from 1612, as a reliable contemporaneous source on He’s life, the passage describing him and his Buddhist figures 'transmitted and treasured [everywhere] under heaven,' appears to be a later, 1763, addition, impossible to separate from the celebrity status his mark had already garnered by the late Ming. Indeed, while a limited number of exceptional figures – the present included – may be confidently attributed to the master himself, the growing fame and reputation of He Chaozong’s wares led many later artists to imitate – or outright forge – his style and mark, relying on his ‘brand’ as a symbol of quality. Compare, for example, a standing Guanyin probably produced during the Qing dynasty, preserved in the Palace Museum, Beijing (accession. no. xin 00088269), bearing a He Chaozong mark alongside a more lengthy inscription to a patron, Mr. Zhang, who presumably commissioned the piece from a workshop specializing in the ‘He’ style.

Though the exact life dates of this master potter will likely remain unclear, archaeological and textual data have allowed us to form a cursory understanding of his life. Born around 1522 in Housuo in the west of Dehua county, Fujian, He Chaozong spent his life perfecting his craft and sculpting some of the finest blanc-de-chine figures ever attested, relying on a particularly high quality source of kaolin near his workshop. The date of his death remains unclear, but two dated Guanyin figures may provide possible clues as to He’s active years as a sculptor: the first, inscribed with the cyclical date yiwei nian (corresponding to 1619 CE), is illustrated in John Ayers, Blanc de Chine: Divine Images in Porcelain, China Institute Gallery, New York, 2002, cat. no. 25; and the other, formerly in the collection of Stephen D. Winkworth, sitting before a mandorla indistinctly inscribed with an underglaze blue date equivalent to 1618 CE, was first published in R.L. Hobson, The Wares of the Ming Dynasty, London, 1923, pl. 45, fig. 1, the inscription made legible through X-ray and published in Robert Blumenfield, Blanc de Chine: The Great Porcelain of Dehua, Berkeley, 2002, pp 164-165. 

For a comprehensive summary of the debates around He Chaozong, see Xu Benzhang, 'Discussions of a few issues on the porcelain figures by He Chaozong', Dehua Ancient Ceramics Academic Essay Compilation, Dehua, 2002, pp 287-297; Zeng Fan, Fujian taoci kaogu gailun [An overview of ceramic archaeology in Fujian], Fuzhou, 2001, pp 216-217, and 'Additional Comments on the Dehua Kilns', Transactions of the Oriental Ceramic Society, vol. 60 (1995-1996), pp 25-27; and Rose Kerr, “Introductory Remarks on Dehua Ware”, in John Ayers and Rose Kerr, Blanc de Chine: Porcelain from Dehua, A Catalogue of the Hickley Collection, Singapore, 2002, pp 10-11.

Each creation of He Chaozong is a unique masterpiece in its own right. That said, while He and his followers injected unique character and variation into each sculpture, it also seems that they established a select range of prototypes on which to base these creative acts. To date, three distinct types of standing Guanyin figures with He Chaozong marks are known – the present lot being an example of the largest and, by far, the rarest type. The first variety, likely the most common of the three, depicts the bodhisattva with her hands concealed within her sleeves, usually standing atop restless waves, while the second depicts her on a mass of clouds with her uncovered right hand resting on her left. Compare a He Chaozong-marked figure of the first type preserved in the Palace Museum, Beijing, ascribed to the Ming dynasty, illustrated in Dehua Wares Collected by the Palace Museum, vol. I, Beijing, 2016, pl 13; and another almost identical figure, of almost the same size as the present (51.5 cm), sold in these rooms, 20th May 1987, lot 528 and again more recently at Christie’s Hong Kong for over nineteen million Hong Kong dollars, 27th November 2017, lot 8120. Compare also a similarly sized (48 cm) example of the second type preserved in the Victoria & Albert Museum, London, illustrated in Patrick Donnelly, Blanc de Chine, London, 1969, pl. 145A.

While many examples of these two types are known, preserved in important collections across the world, the present design – ‘type three’ – appears to be extraordinarily rare, with the present figure the largest ever recorded. While both of the aforementioned designs possess the grandeur, fluidity of form, and serenity that typify He Chaozong’s work, all of these examples may be said to fall short of the present figure, with its characterful gesture and windswept garments rendered in extraordinary detail. From the figure’s serene expression to the wave-kissed rockwork at her feet to her crisp robes gathering in a wave-like knot at her naval, every minutia of the present lot has been thoughtfully considered and brought to life with mastery. To date, only one other He Chaozong Guanyin of this lifelike type is attested, sold in our Hong Kong rooms, 6th April 2016, lot 3606. This figure, from the collection of Aimée de Heeren (1903–2006), is almost identical to the present with crisp blustering robes and stands just shorter at a height of 51.5 cm.

Sotheby's. Chinese Art, New York, 18 March 2025