A Rare Massive 'Blanc-De-Chine' Figure of Buddha. Qing Dynasty, 18th Century - Photo Sotheby's

modelled standing on a waisted lotus plinth, wearing long flowing robes draped from the shoulders and falling in undulous folds open at the chest, one hand held in front holding a 'pearl', the other held in varada mudra, his facial features finely formed to provide a serene expression with downcast eyes, a small sensuous mouth and flanked by long lobed ears, his hair with tightly curled whorls covering the domed ushnisha, all under a warm milky glaze, impressed to the reverse with three seals reading Dehua, Xu Yuyuan zhi ('Made by Xu Yuyuan'), and Xu Yunlin zhi ('Made by Xu Yunlin'); 84cm., 33 in. Estimation: 1,200,000 - 1,800,000 HKD - Lot. Vendu 1,460,000 HKD

PROVENANCE: Sotheby's Hong Kong, 5th November 1996, lot 832.
Sotheby's Hong Kong, 8th April 2007, lot 726.

LITTERATURE: Robert H. Blumenfield, Blanc de Chine. The Great Porcelain of Dehua, Berkeley, 2002, p. 57, pl. B.

NOTE DE CATALOGUE: Dehua figures of standing Buddha are rare and the present figure is unusual for its very large size. See two smaller figures of standing Buddha illustrated ibid., p. 56, pl. B and p. 57, pl. A , depicted with elaborate jewels. See also three figures included in the exhibition Blanc de Chine, S. Marchant and Son, London, 2006, cat. nos. 4, 8 and 25, all much smaller in size; and two smaller examples published in P.J. Donnelly, Blanc de Chine. The Porcelain of Tehua in Fukien, London, 1969, pls. 156 and 157, the latter depicted wearing jewels. 

Sotheby's. Fine Chinese Ceramics & Works of Art. Hong Kong | 09 oct. 2012 www.sothebys.com