This is one of the smaller figures in the collection and a good example of how the Dehua potters were able to imbue small pieces with expression. Guanyin is seated on a lion's back, with a baby boy on her lap. The potter has paid great attention to details such as the baby's long earlobes and tiny feet, and the lion's furl, which have been incised as well as pricked for added texture. The piece exudes the qualities of serenity and compassion embodied by Guanyin. In this case even the lion gazes gently up at her with bared teeth. In the Lotus Sutra, an ancient sacred text of Buddhism, Guanyin as Songzi or ‘Giver of Children’ is depicted as a fertility goddess, with the power to grant sons and to protect women during pregnancy and childbirth.Dehua, located on the southeast coast of Fujian province, is well known for its production of white porcelain, known to Europeans as 'blanc de Chine'. The earliest Dehua porcelain was produced as early as the 14th century but the production and quality of these porcelain peaked around the 17th and 18th centuries.
