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incense-burner

• Object type

  • incense-burner

• Museum number

  PDF.613

• Description

  Porcelain basin with rounded sides, slightly flaring mouth rim, and wide, straight foot. There is a scene in underglaze blue of Budai Heshang reclining under a tree on a terrace, with children approaching him with goods and instruments. There is a mark in the centre and an inscription incised on the base under the glaze.

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• Culture/period

  • Ming dynasty

• Date

  • 17thC

• Production place

  • Made in: Jingdezhen
  • (Asia,China,Jiangxi (province),Jingdezhen)

• Materials

  • porcelain

• Technique

  • underglazed

• Dimensions

  • Height: 123 millimetres
  • Diameter: 191 millimetres

• Inscriptions

  • • Inscription Type

      inscription

    • Inscription Position

      Inside in the centre

    • Inscription Language

      Chinese

    • Inscription Translation

      Liu

    • Inscription Comment

      Character Liuinside in the centre

  • • Inscription Type

      inscription

    • Inscription Position

      On the base

    • Inscription Language

      Chinese

    • Inscription Translation

      An inscription for Li Gongding of Zhengzuo. Casting off the conventions of life, with boundless enjoyment. Watching his grandon teaching the classics, with great satisfaction. May he have for eternity, dutiful sons and grandsons, as a tree has its leaves. The noble family of Li has endured for a hundred generations. Wu Zhijing of Congren (county) pays the compliment.

    • Inscription Comment

      44-character inscription on the base

• Curator's comments

  Published PDF date : 17th centuryRoom 95 label text:

  PDF 613

  Incense burner with a scene of Budai Heshang

  
  Potters painted this incense burner with a representation of 布袋和尚 (Budai heshang ‘cloth sack monk’). He is generally depicted as here with a smiling face, elongated ear lobes and a fat protruding belly. He generally holds rosary beads and carries a cloth bag. He is also known as the laughing Buddha. He is in fact 彌勒佛 (Maitreya ‘the Buddha of the future’). Inside there is a character Liu (a surname) in the centre. On the base is a forty-four-character dedicatory inscription.

  
  Porcelain with underglaze cobalt-blue decoration
  Jingdezhen, Jiangxi province 江西省, 景德鎮
  Ming dynasty, about AD 1600–1644

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• Bibliography

  • Medley 1975 Monochrome pl. 193
  • Pierson 2001 p. 82, no. 79
  • Scott 1989b p.98, no.100
  • Medley 1976 pp 17-18, no.613, pl.I
  • Pierson 2004 pp 24-25, no.613 (colour p.44)

• Location

  On display: G95/dc24/sh9

• Acquisition name

  • On loan from: Sir Percival David Foundation of Chinese Art

• Department

  Asia

• Registration number

  PDF.613