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Hi

i recently bought this Buddha at auction, after doing some research on various forums im pretty sure the makers mark is by Wei Hong Tai, im trying to find out more about the artist, is this piece quite rare and how old is it? any help would be greatly appreciated

kind regards

George

Wei Hong Tai was a famous porcelain master, mainly active in late
Qing and early Republic era.
Dates of birth and death unknown.
Bottom marks related to him;
魏洪泰造　　Made by Wei Hong Tai
紫雲岩　　　Ziyun yan (Purple Cloud Rock)

With regards,
I.Nagy

Hi

Thank you for your reply, thats very interesting, i think my figure has the 'made by Wei Hong Tai' mark

thank again

George

Here's another Budai Heshang (Cloth Sack Monk) with the Wei Hongtai mark. If it isn't by the master, then someone lavished an enormous amount of work on the image in hopes they could emulate him. Both yours and mine appear to have been slip-cast, a technique Tony Allen dates to probably the 2nd quarter of the 20th century in his latest book, "Allen's Antique Chinese Porcelain -- The Detection of Fakes"

Best regards,

Bill H.

hi

im not sure if my previous message went through, so ill post again just in case!

how can you tell if a item has been slip cast?

thanks

Thought you might find these tree links interesting:

http://auction.artron.net/paimai-art5033960329/

http://auction.artron.net/paimai-art5075140770/

http://auction.artron.net/paimai-art5039580014/

Make a google search with the Chinese writings posted by I.Nagy and you will find more relevant information about the artist.

The base on a slip-cast item usually has a vent hole, such as seen on the base of my Wei Hongtai-marked Budai. The interior typically is smooth, and the walls are thin all-around. Figurines made using a press mold are thicker, and if a vent hole is present, fingerprints sometimes can be seen in the biscuit inside and outside of the piece. This is the case with the image in the photos below of a late Ming-to-Qing Transitional Period (ca 1620-1683) sancai stoneware image of Hva Shang. In the Tibetan language, this term, which simply means "monk" in Chinese, has come to signify the Buddhist divinity who serves alongside the Tiger-taming Dharmatala and the Four Lokapala Guardian Kings in defending the faith and particularly in protecting the original 16 Arhats or Sages, called Luohan in Chinese. Some Buddhists consider Hva Shang and Dharmatala, in fact, also to be Arhats. This divinity has evolved in Chinese and Japanese Buddhism as the Cloth Sack Monk, an avatar of the Bodhisattva Maitreya.

Best regards,

Bill H.

those links are very interesting i cant believe the prices, i've linked one from ebay, also there were two Wei Hong Tai Buddhas on ebay that sold for £6000 each! so they are this valuable even if they were not made by Wei Hong Tai himself?

thank you for explaining the slip casting the monk photographed is beautiful, one thing i have noticed between our two Buddhas and others i have now seen is the base of mine appears smooth whereas i can see a very fine kind of criss-cross pattern on yours and other Buddhas bases, would that mean mine may be slightly older?

The criss-cross pattern, in the case of my Budai image, has to do with it being placed on an absorbent fabric surface for the base to dry after being attached to the semi-finished image before painting and firing took place.

Best regards,

Bill H.

ah i see that makes sense, thank for sharing this information, im new to this as you can probably tell haha, could you possibly look at my latest forum post, i think it is a Chinese immortal figure, a far as i can tell it doesnt have a makers name but would love to know more about it.

p.s my Buddha is having a professional clean and some tlc, cant wait to see him looking his best

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