Kuan Yin
Category
Ceramics
Date
1640 - 1680
Materials
Blanc de chine
Measurements
397 x 140 x 85 mm
Place of origin
Dehua
Order this imageCollection
Saltram, Devon
NT 870827
Summary
Figure of Guanyin, one of three almost identical figures at Saltram (see also NT 870779 and NT 871079), porcelain, made in Dehua, Fujian province, China, 1640–80, in undecorated porcelain with a clear glaze. The figure is seated on rockwork, wears a crown, is dressed in flowing robes and holds a child in her lap.
Full description
Guanyin 觀音 is a bodhisattva, a figure in Buddhism who has achieved spiritual enlightenment but who remains in the mortal realm to help others. In Chinese folk belief Guanyin was seen as a goddess of mercy and was thought to be able to ensure the birth of healthy children (McArthur 2002). Although originally made for the Chinese market and intended for religious worship, representations of Buddhist figures in Dehua porcelain were also exported to Europe from the seventeenth century onwards, where they were admired for their material finesse. This type of porcelain is sometimes known in the West as ‘blanc de Chine’ (‘Chinese white’).
Provenance
Given to the National Trust by Montagu Brownlow Parker, 5th Earl of Morley (1878-1962), 1957.
References
McArthur 2002: Meher McArthur, Reading Buddhist Art: An Illustrated Guide to Buddhist Signs and Symbols, London, 2002., pp. 42-5