Important Chinese Art
Important Chinese Art
Property of a Belgian collector
A large sancai-glazed stoneware figure of an official, Ming dynasty | 明 三彩文官立像
Auction Closed
November 3, 05:23 PM GMT
Estimate
8,000 - 12,000 GBP
Lot Details
Description
Property of a Belgian collector
A large sancai-glazed stoneware figure of an official
Ming dynasty
明 三彩文官立像
standing on a rocky base, his hands gathered in front holding a ruyi-sceptre, dressed in a yellow coat tied below the waist over a long green under garment and wearing a scholar's headdress
Height 48 cm, 18⅞ in.
Acquired from Marc Michot, Brugge.
Marc Michot，布魯日
Large sculptures such as this figure were made in tilework manufactories employing the same materials and production methos as the colourful roof times made as architectural elements for temples and shrines. Both Buddhist and Daoist sancai-glazed stoneware figures were popularly commissioned during the Ming dynasty. Jessica Harrison-Hall notes that such figures 'were predominantly produced for religious purposes, while smaller figures were made to be given as auspicious presents or even to serve as objects of devotion', see Jessica Harrison-Hall, Ming Ceramics in the British Museum, London, 2001, pp. 537-543.