Bodhidharma of the Qing dynasty. Dehua, Fujian... Lot 18

Bodhidharma of the Qing dynasty. Dehua, Fujian province, China, 20th century. Blanc de Chine porcelain. Seal on the back He Chaozong and stamp of manufacture in Dehua, Fujian province. Measurements: 19,5 x 10 x 12 cm. Round sculpture representing Bodhidharma, monk of Persian origin, the twenty-eighth patriarch of Buddhism and the first legendary patriarch and founder of the Zen or Chan form of Buddhism, framed within the style called in Europe Blanc de Chine. These pieces, made in Dehua, in the province of Fujian, originate from the Ming dynasty (1368-1644). They are characterized by their warm white color, achieved thanks to the use of a porcelain very low in iron oxide, which allows firing in an oxidizing atmosphere, instead of the reducing atmospheres typical of the rest of Chinese porcelain. Particularly representative are the images of the bodhisattva Guanyin, highly revered in Fujian.