Lot Essay
The representation of Guanyin in this aspect was particularly popular in the early 18th century with Westerners, combining as it did her role as "the bringer of sons" and the patron of fishermen, alluded to in the sea dragons on the pedestal. According to P. J. Donnelly, op.cit, 1969, p. 146 and pl. 75, the figure of Guanyin with "all her possible attributes and trappings" was one of the most widely distributed models in Europe by 1720. He states that most of these figures are the same size and hence possibly from the same mould, although the tone varies from "a rich cream to milk-white". Compare, also, the figure in the Victoria and Albert Museum included by C. Clunas in Chinese Export Art and Design, London, 1987, p.52, no.32 where she is flanked by tree stumps, one bearing books and the other hollowed to hold incense. Another example is illustrated by G. Godden, op.cit., 1979, p. 263 where it is suggested that one of the tree trunks by the figure has been adapted to form an incense holder. For a brief period c.1680-1730, it was all the rage in Europe to dress black and gilt lacquer cabinets, panelling and display shelves with "masses" of such blanc-de-chine figures; few of these groupings have survived, since a radical change in Western interior decoration in the 1730's coincided with much easier availability of brightly-enamelled Chinese Export porcelain to "dress a withdrawing rooms".