A Very Large 17th Century Blanc de Chine Porcelain Model of Guanyin.

A Very Large 17th Century Blanc de Chine Porcelain Model of Guanyin, Dehua kilns, Fujian Province, China. This large and very heavy early Kangxi porcelain model of Guanyin dates to around 1660 to 1690, it is crisply moulded and the glaze is thin enough to allow the details to be clear and sharp. She is depicted seated on a rock-work throne with a young boy in her lap who is wearing a Chinese bib, called a dudou 兜肚. The boy is holding a brush and an ingot, with a scroll sitting on a book near by, alluding to the hope for a son who would become a great scholar and thereby advance the family’s standing. Guanyin was the bodhisattva of Mercy as well as the bestower of sons. A pair of very similar very Blanc de Chine porcelain Guanyin’s are at Burghley House described as “Two large white figures with children in their laps” are mentioned in the Conveyance and Schedule of Gift of 1690. This important document is whereby Elizabeth, daughter of the Third Earl of Devonshire, bequeathed the contents of her chamber and closet to her daughter Anne, Countess of Exeter. See ‘Information’ below our Photograph Gallery for a photograph and link to the Burghley House Collections. All sorts versions of Guanyin have been made at the Dehua kilns from the late Ming dynasty to the present day. See Below For More Photographs and Information SOLD