CHINE, XIXÈME-XXÈME SIÈCLE

Guanyin Pusa, also known as the bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara, is venerated as the goddess of mercy and compassion. One of the most popular subjects in Chinese art, early representations portray the deity as male, but by the Qing dynasty, particularly in porcelain, she was depicted as a beautiful female. A frequent subject for the Dehua potters, Guanyin is either depicted seated, standing, on a lotus-form base, above waves, without a base, holding a child following the ‘Virgin and Child’ or not, various models can be found. On the present figure, the bodhisattva is depicted standing above agitated waves, a foot resting on a carp’s head, holding a hand scroll in her left hand.
Impressive by its size (87 cm. high), this figure is part of a smaller group of massive standing depictions of Guanyin, such as an example (88 cm. high) sold at Christie’s Paris, Art d’Asie, 12 December 2019, also bearing a boji yuren mark.
The back of the figure bears an four-character seal mark reading boji yuren. Su Xuejin (1869-1919), known as Guangquan, held the courtesy name Yunyu and adopted the artist name "Boji Yuren." He hailed from Baomei Village in Xunzhong, Dehua County, and is celebrated as a prominent artist in the modern history of Dehua porcelain sculpture. Boji Yuren can also be translated as ‘virtue extends to all, even fishermen’.