A LONGQUAN CELADON AND BISCUIT FIGURE OF AN IMMORTAL, MING DYNASTY

A LONGQUAN CELADON AND BISCUIT FIGURE OF AN IMMORTAL, MING DYNASTY China, 1368-1644. Finely modeled seated with one arm resting on his belly and the other on his left knee. The immortal is wearing a molded and incised, long flowing robe tied at the waist and with wide sleeves as well as an official’s cap. The benevolent face with downcast eyes, a joyous smile, and long beard. Provenance: From a private collection in the United Kingdom. The silk box and cover with an old label, ‘Phillips … 174’, and inscribed in pencil to one side, ‘377/195’ and ‘19500’. Condition: Excellent condition with old wear and firing flaws, such as firing cracks and kiln grit, the glaze with intentional crackle and glaze lines, few chips to base, some inherent to manufacturing and some possibly smoothened. Remnants of old varnish. Weight: 911.6 g Dimensions: Height 15.6 cm With a fitted silk box and sliding cover. (2) Covered in a deep sea-green glaze darkening at the recesses. The head, hands, and feet left unglazed, typical for these wares, revealing the brown ware. Auction result comparison: Compare a closely related celadon-glazed and biscuit figure of Zhenwu, also dated to the Ming dynasty and with a near-identical glaze color, at Sotheby’s New York, in Asian Art, on 14 September 2019, lot 1763, sold for USD 32,500. 明代龍泉青釉仙人坐像 中國，1368-1644年。仙人一隻手擡起放在腹部，另一隻手放在左膝蓋上。 他身著一件飄逸長袍，束腰寬袖，頭戴官帽。 慈祥的臉龐上雙眼微微下垂，笑容微微，長鬚飄飄。 來源：英國私人收藏，絲盒上有一個舊時標籤 ‘Phillips … 174’字樣，一面有鉛筆書寫字樣‘377/195’ 與 ‘19500’。 品相：狀況極好，有舊時磨損和燒製缺陷，如燒製裂紋和窯灰，釉面有裂紋和釉線，底足有少量碎屑，有些是製造時固有的，有些是平滑的。 舊漆的殘留物。 重量：911.6 克 尺寸：高15.6 厘米 配套絲盒。 (2) 拍賣結果比較：一件相近的明代青瓷真武帝像，幾乎一模一樣的釉色，見紐約蘇富比Asian Art 2019年9月14日lot 1763, 售價USD 32,500。