This figurine of Damo, also known as Bodhidharma, is the Indian monk who founded Chan Buddhism in China. He is depicted as standing on foaming waves crossing the Yangzi River.There were two popular episodes in the monk's life that were depicted in the plays of the Qing dynasty - one, where he crossed the Yangzi on a reed and the other, about his travels to the Western Paradise, holding one shoe. These depictions were favourites with the Dehua potters.Whiteware such as these were made in Dehua, a district in Fujian province, that was famous for white porcelain, known to the Chinese as ‘zhuyoubai’ (pork-grease white) or ‘xiangyabai’ (ivory white), and to the Europeans as 'blanc de chine' (white porcelain). Dehua porcelain has a white body, consisting mostly of porcelain stone (‘baidunzi’) with minute amounts of clay. This type of porcelain was produced as early as the 14th century.
