A Dehua figure of Guanyin, China, Late Ming dynasty, circa 1620. Estimate 30,000 — 40,000 USD. Photo: Sotheby's

the figure modeled standing on a vase brimming with lotus on a bank of swirling waves, wearing long robes that cover the hands, open at the chest to reveal a ruyi-bead necklace, extending to a cowl and falling gracefully to expose one bare foot, the head turned slightly to the left and hair arranged beneath the cowl and fastened with a lotus diadem, the back impressed with a three-character seal mark of He Chaozong within a double gourd. Height 15 in., 38.1 cm

Provenance: From the collection of Captain J. Meuldijk, The Netherlands.

Notes: He Chaozong, the Dehua kilns' most famous potter and greatest figure sculptor, lived and worked in the late Ming period, around the late 16th and early 17th centuries. His figures are characterized by remarkable sculptural quality, with most delicate facial features and bold garment folds. He is mainly known through his extant work, which often bears his seals, but very little is recorded about the man himself. His works defined the characteristic Dehua style, and his images, which have provided models for porcelain sculpture until today, established a standard that has never since been reached again.

See a similar Guanyin with a small boy standing by her side, illustrated in P.J. Donnelly, Blanc de Chine. The Porcelain of Tehua in Fukien, London, 1969, pl. 145C. See another closely related Guanyin from the Albright-Knox Art Gallery, sold in these rooms, 19th-20th March 2007, lot 777. 

Sotheby's. Important Chinese Art, New York, 15 sept. 2015