A moulded 'Longquan' celadon figure of Buddha Shakyamuni, China, Ming dynasty, 15th century. Estimate 5000/7000 €. Sold 13.000 €. Photo Nagel

the moulded deity seated in dhyanasana on a lotus throne raised on a tiered pedestal base, wearing a loose robe opened at the chest revealing a wan symbol and falling in folds over his legs and the base, the face with gentle smile and framed by curly hair, covered overall in a thick sage-green glaze save for the head and chest reserved in the biscuit and fired orange. H. 27,5 cm. Few fine firing cracks in the unglazed sections

Property from a Dutch private collection 

Note: It is rare to find a 'Longquan' celadon shrine of this size, and the present piece is exceptional for its extensive delicately modelled details, which demonstrate the skill of the Longquan potters in the production of devotional figures for the home market. In the tradition of celadon figures, the head and chest have been left unglazed to allow for the application of pigment or gilding - Cf. Bo Gyllensvärd, Chinese Ceramics in the Carl Kempe Collection, Stockholm, 1964, pl. 166 - The World's Great Collections. Oriental Ceramics, vol. 8, Tokyo, 1982, pl. 190. Chinese Ceramics in the Carl Kempe Collection, The Museum of Art and Far Eastern Antiquities in Ulricehamn, Ulricehamn, 2002, pl. 385 a slightly smaller two-tiered shrine illustrated in Julian Thompson, 'Chinese Celadons', Arts of Asia, November-December, 1993, front cover, was sold at Sotheby's Hong Kong , 5th November 1996, lot 615; and a similar example in the Charles Russell collection illustrated by R. L. Hobson et. al., Chinese Ceramics in Private Collections, London, 1931, p. 187. A larger shrine from the Edward T. Chow collection, engraved with a date equivalent to 1385, is illustrated in Sheila Riddell, Dated Chinese Antiquities, 600-1650, London, 1979, pl. 11, and was sold at Sotheby's London, 16th December 1980, lot 324, and again, 16th June 1998, lot 232 - 'Longquan' celadon shrines of this type are generally much smaller, for example see one from the Evelyn Annenberg Hall collection sold at Christie's New York, 29th March 2006; another from the estate of Stanley Hertzman sold at Christie's New York, 20th September 2002, lot 308; and a third from the collection of J. C. Dragon II sold at Sotheby's Hong Kong, 5th November 1996, lot 615 

NAGEL. "Asian Art". Sale 722, 06/06/2015