Ancient Chinese Buddhist Pottery Amulet - Ming Dynasty

This is one of a group of moulded pottery tablets that we bought about twenty years ago. They are made from a relatively high-fired pottery and have a surprising amount of detail. They were made as amulets and votive offerings and were reported to have been excavated from the foundations of an ancient Buddhist temple, where originally many would have been placed to ensure the success of the temple. We find it quite difficult to date these and have seen almost identical examples over the years dated as early as the Liao Dynasty (AD 907 - 1125). However, we'd rather be a little more conservative and date them to the Ming Dynasty (AD 1368 - 1644) or possibly even a little later.

Interesting features of this particular example are that it is misshapen due to firing bubbles within the pottery and the impression to the whole of the back surface of a very finely-woven cloth. The pottery also varies in colour due to uneven conditions during firing. The details, however, on the face of the amulet, are particularly fine.

Height 7 cm. No repair or restoration.

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