A very expressive model of the jovial Hotei seated holding a palm leaf fan and leaning casually against his sack. The figure is hollow and has an inscription of some kind on the foot-rim done with what appears to be red lacquer. Bizen stoneware is not glazed but is so highly fired that a vitreous self-glaze forms on the surface. This thin glaze is usually a little uneven in colour and often exhibits small particles of fuel ash from the firing, all this adding greatly to the charm of the piece. Hotei’s mouth is open, his nostrils and ears are pierced and so maybe he sat over an incense cone now and again, with spectacular effect. Bizen is notoriously difficult to date, I can see no reason for this example not to be other than 19th century, and it may well be earlier.