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hi

i recently bought this Buddha, i had never seen one so big or heavy. it has a makers mark inside a rectangular shape, however it is too hard to read.

i wondered if anyone may know who may have made this, perhaps the rectangular shape narrows it down?

any help greatly apreciated

thanks

George

This Chinese figure represents an icon in China and Japan, the 'Cloth Sack Monk', called Budai Heshang in Mandarin Chinese and Hotei in Japanese. Though not a Buddha, per se, the Budai is an avatar of the Bodhisattva or Mortal Buddha Maitreiya. With his name transliterated as Hva Shang, he also serves as protector for the historical Buddha alongside the four guardian deities of the cardinal directions in Tantric Buddhism.

The modeling of your figure's visage varies from the norm that persisted in China from the late 19th through early 20th century, which is typified by the circa 11 inch-tall model shown below, made by Wei Hongtai, who was active during the late Qing-early Republic. The subtle differences in modeling, glazing, painting and gilding seen in your figure and others similar to it suggests to me they probably date to the late 20th and into the 21st century. Their auction performance seems to be spotty, though one occasionally will break the four-figure barrier.

Best regards,

Bill H.

Hi Bill

thanks for your reply, i have since found out the maker of this particular figure, it turns out that it is probably post 1940 and was made by Zeng Shandon, son of the famous porcelain master Zeng Longsheng. the article i have linked is quite interesting


regards

George

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