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Lot Essay
A Dehua figure of late Ming period in monumental form with a mark is a great rarity as it was difficult to fire large figures successfully at the time. Two examples, sized 87.6 cm. and 90.2 cm, which are considered to have been made at an early date and in monumental form, are illustrated in P.J. Donnelly, Blanc de Chine: Monographs on Pottery and Porcelain, New York, 1969, plates 81A and 81B. Another seated Guanyin, 73.6 cm. high and weighing nearly 40kg, which is believed one of the largest examples bearing the potter’s mark He Chaozong. This published example is dated within the second half of the seventeenth century, and is illustrated in op. cit., plate 154A.
However, late Ming Dehua figures of Guanyin, with the same mark as the current example, are noticeably absent from publications of museum collections. The current mark, which can be read as Wenzheng qishi, and is probably associated with the official, Yang Wenzheng, of the Wanli period (1573-1619). Yang was a native of Nanchang, the county magistrate of the Dehua county in Fujian province. Guanyin, is known as the ‘Goddess of Mercy’, the one who perceives the sounds of the world. The mark, with its literal meaning, ‘Wenzheng prostrates in front of [Guanyin]’, suggests that this figure was probably a special commission ordered by Yang Wenzheng.
However, late Ming Dehua figures of Guanyin, with the same mark as the current example, are noticeably absent from publications of museum collections. The current mark, which can be read as Wenzheng qishi, and is probably associated with the official, Yang Wenzheng, of the Wanli period (1573-1619). Yang was a native of Nanchang, the county magistrate of the Dehua county in Fujian province. Guanyin, is known as the ‘Goddess of Mercy’, the one who perceives the sounds of the world. The mark, with its literal meaning, ‘Wenzheng prostrates in front of [Guanyin]’, suggests that this figure was probably a special commission ordered by Yang Wenzheng.