Dehua Water Moon Guanyin Porcelain Sculpture

Water Moon Guanyin is recognized by an ease rarely found in more formal devotional images. One knee is raised, the body turns gently and the robes settle around the figure rather than holding it in rigid symmetry. This Dehua porcelain interpretation adds a lotus stem and offers the form in either textured teal or quiet white.

The pose has deep roots in East Asian Buddhist art. An eleventh-century Chinese Water Moon Guanyin preserved by The Metropolitan Museum of Art shows the same relaxed attitude often called royal ease. This sculpture belongs to that continuing visual tradition, in which contemplation feels intimate rather than remote.

Water Moon Guanyin is associated with compassion reflected into the changing world, as the moon appears in water without being diminished by it. The raised knee creates a strong profile, the drapery changes with the viewing angle, and the two finishes give different experiences of the same contemplative form. Textured teal emphasizes surface and shadow; white places the attention on silhouette alone.

• Origin: Dehua, Fujian, China
• Material: Dehua porcelain
• Finishes: Textured teal or white glaze
• Iconography: Water Moon Guanyin in the royal-ease posture with lotus stem
• Small: 20.5 x 16 x 29 cm / 8.1 x 6.3 x 11.4 in
• Large: 25.5 x 19.5 x 35 cm / 10.0 x 7.7 x 13.8 in
• Care: Dust gently with a soft, dry cloth