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I wonder if anyone has an appreciation for whether this 7.5 inch-tall Cizhou-type pottery figure of the Daoist long-life deity is as old as it looks or just another later reproduction. I found it at an estate sale for about US$20 and have since seen others offered in online auctions with similar potting and painting that are claimed to be Yuan Dynasty. However, nobody bid on the example shown at the liveauctioneers.com link below, possibly because of the US$10,000 opening bid.

The one I'm researching here seems to be at least late 19th century, having apparent fingerprints and other clues of being hand-molded instead of slip-cast and made of a clay consistent in color to what was used in the Hebei kilns.

All information will be welcomed and appreciated.

Best regards,

Bill H.








Link :Cizhou Type Figurine

Couldn't it be a Japanese Edo-Meiji period sculpture in a dressing equivalent to Chinese Cizhou-ware.

Corey, I wondered about the same possibility due to the resemblance of the figure to the Japanese Lucky God Fukuroju, whose head is more elongated than Japan's other Long Life God, Jurojin. However, the origin of Fukurokuju is said to be based in Chinese stories dating to the Song Dynasty, and the legend says boh deities occupy the same body as different manifestations, so the fine points of the question are still hard for me to fathom

Appreciate the input,

Bill H.

URL Title :Fukurokuju

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