Beschreibung:

A RARE LONGQUAN CELADON-GLAZED FIGURE OF BUDAIMing Dynasty
The Laughing God heavily potted seated on a deeply-pierced rockwork throne plinth, wearing a translucent greyish-green robe, his bald head, bare protuberant stomach and feet all reserved in the biscuit fired dark brown, holding a rosary on his right knee. 22cm (8 1/2in) high.Footnotes明 龍泉窯青釉布袋和尚坐像
Provenance: Ralph M. Chait Galleries, New York, 2 November 2006
A European private collection
來源：Ralph M. Chait Galleries，紐約，2006年11月2日
歐洲私人收藏
The stories of Budai, the Laughing Buddha, centered on an eccentric, but much-loved Zen (Chan) monk who lived during the late Tang to early Five Dynasties period. A native of Fenghua, his Buddhist name was Qici or Qieci (literally 'Promise this') and he was known for working small wonders and predicting the weather.
According to an accumulation of several Chinese legends, Budai is most commonly regarded as an incarnation of Maitreya Buddha (the Buddha of the Future). He is admired for his happiness, wisdom and contentment, and is associated with the protection of children.
A similar Longquan celadon-glazed figure of Budai, Ming dynasty, in the collection of The British Museum, is illustrated by J.Harrison-Hall, Ming Ceramics in the British Museum, London, 2001, p.502, no.16:98.
Compare with two similar Longquan celadon-glazed figures of Budai, Yuan/Ming dynasty, which were sold at Sotheby's Hong Kong, 29 November 2018, lot 605 and Sotheby's New York, 14 September 2019, lot 1764.