Description

<![CDATA[<div>Antique Japanese Bizen Yaki Okimono Happy Buddha Hotei with Chinese Fan Signed: Ko. Circa: Early Meiji, 19th century Figure: h. 9 in. (23cm), w. 10 in. (25cm), d. 8 in. (20cm) Pedestal: h. 2 in. (5cm), w. 10 in. (25cm), d. 10 in. (25cm) Condition: excellent! In this intimate portrait of Hotei, the charming Happy Buddha appears chubby with a bald round cranium. He is seated in the classic royal easy lalitasana posture, leaning slightly to a treasure sack by his side, holding a Chinese fan in his right hand, with his left-hand rests on the raised knee, in a cheerful smile revealing his finely carved teeth and tongue, radiating an irrepressibly mirthful individuality that brings alive the benevolence of the Buddha. The masterfully modeled figure is hand-sculpted, with the artist’s finger imprints visible inside the opened base. A hand-scripted variant character Ko (古) on the interior wall is clearly visible. Despite its iron-hard substance from two weeks of 1200°C firing, the distinct senescence on its unglazed surface reveals its ancient origin. Consistent with the style and artistry of the period. This rare Ko-Bizen-yaki okimono (古備前焼) is tentatively attributed to the 17th-century Momoyama period, and certainly no later than the Edo era. In excellent preservation. *Authenticity Guaranteed. BuddhaMuseum specializes in temples, and family-worshipped Buddhist arts. We guarantee all artifacts to be genuine as described. It is our policy never to deliberately list fakes as genuine.