Guanyin Crossing the Sea, c. 1675-1699, attributed to He Chaozong. Dehua porcelain; height 51 cm. Rijksmuseum, AK-MAK-594. On loan from the Royal Asian Art Society in The Netherlands (Westendorp-Osieck bequest, 1968). Public domain.
Start with the sleeves. They gather at the forearms, then fall in long folds beside the hands. A narrow edge catches the light; the hollow beneath it turns gray. Much of the movement in this white porcelain Guanyin comes from that change in depth.
The figure belongs to the white porcelain tradition of Dehua, in China's Fujian province, known as blanc de Chine. Here, the white surface leaves the face, jewelry and drapery to be distinguished by their contours.
Guanyin is the bodhisattva of compassion in Chinese Buddhism. In this sculpture, the eyes are lowered and one hand rests across the other. A small seated Buddha, identified by the Rijksmuseum as Amitabha, appears at the center of the headdress.
Where the Robe Gathers
The cloth seems heaviest below the arms. Across the chest, its edges curve inward and overlap; beneath the wrists, broader folds hang one below another. The narrow fingers remain clearly separate from the mass of fabric around them.
The oblique view makes the sleeve's depth easier to see. A broad, smooth surface turns into a deep recess, then opens out again at the edge. Those changes give the robe its apparent thickness. The porcelain is rigid, but the fold looks as though it has settled under its own weight.
There is handwork in moulding, too. In the V&A's account of Dehua figure-making, clay is pressed into moulds made in sections, while details are modelled or moulded separately and attached.
Now return to the face. The shadow beneath an eyelid is much finer than the dark recess inside a sleeve. At the lips, a slight parting is enough to interrupt the smooth white surface.
Another close look: the carved scrolls on a Qingbai bottle at The Met.
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