This figure of Guanyin sits on a low rock base in the position of 'royal ease' ('rajalalitasana') with both hands clasped around her right knee. She is adorned with a simple bead necklace and bracelets. Her hair is tied in two knots (one damaged) which fall on her shoulders. A sutra box tied with a ribbon is placed next to her. Although the drapery is less convincingly modelled than other figures, the expressively modelled face exudes serenity and the hands are as carefully finished.The sutra may be a visual reference to the Lotus Sutra (Saddharmapundarika), in which Guanyin‘s far-reaching powers were demonstrated by the thirty-three guises she assumed in order to rescue beings from fires, robbers, wild beasts, and other various dangerous situations.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.
