Lot 120
120
A RARE EUROPEAN-DECORATED BLANC-DE-CHINE FIGURE OF GUANYIN
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A RARE EUROPEAN-DECORATED BLANC-DE-CHINE FIGURE OF GUANYIN

THE PORCELAIN 17TH/18TH CENTURY, THE DECORATION PROBABLY LONDON

Details
A RARE EUROPEAN-DECORATED BLANC-DE-CHINE FIGURE OF GUANYIN
the porcelain 17th/18th century, the decoration probably London
Modelled seated on a rockwork base above two acolytes, a child on her lap and a book and vase at either side, the rockwork applied with two dragons and a lotus, her robes enamelled in the Kakiemon style with flowers and a bird, cracked and repaired
14¾ in. (37.5 cm.) high
Special notice
No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VAT at 17.5% will be added to the buyer's premium which is invoiced on a VAT inclusive basis
Sale room notice
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Lot Essay

Compare the blanc-de-chine censer with Kakiemon-style quail pattern combined with deep turquoise and aubergine-glazed dragon handles and feet, which was in the Bernard Watney Collection and sold at Phillips, 22 September 1999, lot 131. Although the palette of the present example bears a strong resemblence to Limehouse soft paste porcelain, and Watney believed that Limehouse porcelain was shipped to Holland in circa 1746-50 to be decorated, it is now believed that both Limehouse porcelain and blanc-de-chine porcelain were decorated at that time in London rather than in Holland, allbeit possibly by Dutch painters working in London. Compare also the blanc-de-chine ewer with Kakiemon-style decoration, illustrated by P. J. Donnelly, Blanc de Chine, New York, 1969, pl.133B, and p.236, which Donnelly suggests was decorated in Holland, and the similarly-decorated seated figure of Guanyin, as pl.133C, which he believes was decorated at Meissen.

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