MING DYNASTY, 16TH-EARLY 17TH CENTURY, IMPRESSED HE CHAOZONG MARK

The present figure is one of a small group from the Dehua kilns bearing the seal impression of the celebrated potter, He Chaozong. As his dates are unrecorded, He Chaozong was previously thought to have worked in the first half of the 17th century. Recent research has revealed that he was already active in the 16th century and some Chinese scholars even believe him to have been active as early as 1522 (see R. Kerr, ‘Introductory Remarks on Dehua Ware, in John Ayers, Rose Kerr, et al., Blanc de Chine: Porcelain from Dehua, A Catalogue of the Hickley Collection, Singapore, Richmond, UK, 2002, p. 10).

A number of known variations of the impressed He Chaozong potter’s mark are published in P. J. Donnelly, Blanc De Chine, New York, 1967, pp. 355-356, either in a square format or within a double-gourd outline, as in the case of the present figure. Compare with a Dehua figure of Guanyin with a similar mark within a double-gourd, included in the exhibition, Dehua Wares, Fung Ping Shan Museum of The University of Hong Kong, 1990, and illustrated in the Catalogue, no. 101, and on the front cover; and a standing figure of Damo formerly from the Joachim Schlotterbeck Collection sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, 26 November 2014, lot 3120. For one impressed with a square mark, compare to a figure of Buddha seated on a lotus platform, formerly from the collection of R. Wagner, sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, 2 December 2015, lot 2912.