3456 x 5184 px | 29,3 x 43,9 cm | 11,5 x 17,3 inches | 300dpi
Date de la prise de vue:
23 janvier 2016
Lieu:
British Museum, London, UK
Informations supplémentaires:
Stoneware figure of Budai Hesheng decorated in polychrome enamels and with biscuit-fired areas, by Liu Zhen (according to inscription). One of the most popular items in the Chinese collections among visitors to the Museum's Hotung Gallery, this almost life-size 'Falstaffian' porcelain figure represents Budai Hesheng seated at ease with one knee raised on a rectangular plinth. He is depicted as a fat smiling bald man with elongated earlobes and a vast spreading stomach. Budai is dressed in the loose amber-coloured robes of a mendicant Buddhist monk and holds a large green-glazed cloth bag under his right arm and the drawstring in his hand. All areas of exposed flesh, such as his face, hands, feet and belly, are fired in the biscuit, lending a certain naturalism to the sculpture. In addition to this his eyes are glazed. His robes are edged with a border of scrolling flowers and foliage which is delicately incised and coloured with pale cream, amber and green glazes on a black ground. The tiered plinth is incised beneath the glaze on the right-hand side with a dedicatory inscription giving details of the date when the figure was made, the priest who solicited contributions for it, the donors' names and the maker of the figure. It is pierced with large holes for carrying the figure on either side. Budai's ears are pierced for the escape of gasses during firing. Several of the characters of the inscription are obscured as the plinth was broken during its journey from China, prior to arrival at the British Museum in 1937. Indeed it is likely that the damage precipitated the donation of the figure to the Museum by the Chinese art dealer John Sparks as prospective clients would have been discouraged from purchasing such a restored sculpture.
