China, 1644-1911. Delicately potted and sensitively modeled, the Goddess of Mercy standing atop the head of a dragon amid swirling waves, holding a ruyi scepter in her hand, wearing gracefully flowing robes, richly adorned with beaded jewelry, her serene face with downcast eyes, the neatly incised hair piled up into an elaborate coiffure, covered overall in a creamy cream-white glaze.

Inscriptions: To the back, within a gourd-shaped seal, 'He Chaozong'.

Provenance: From a noted French private collector, by repute acquired at Nagel, Stuttgart, 2010.
Condition: Good condition, the statue with small losses, minor repairs, and firing cracks with fills to the interior of the base.

Weight: 819.5 g
Dimensions: Height 26.7 cm

The present figure is one of a 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. Later 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, 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.

Auction result comparison:
Type: Related
Auction: Sotheby's New York, 29 March 2022, lot 507
Price: USD 9,450 or approx. EUR 9,400 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A 'Dehua' figure of Guanyin, 17th/18th century
Expert remark: Compare the related subject, modeling, and glaze with similar jewelry, coiffure, and expression. Note the lack of a mark and the size (36.5 cm).