Catalog: Antiques: Regional Art: Asian: Chinese: Sculpture (4)

Every collector should have a few of these Ming dynasty pottery burial figures in their collection. They are such a good bargain and they tell us so much about Chinese culture. Whereas the Tang dynasty figures are always rather theatrical, these Ming(1368-1644) attendants are resolutely realistic. They remind me of the bored professional mourners one still sees occasionally at funerals today...

Every collector should have some of these Ming dynasty pottery burial figures in their collection. They are such a good bargain and they tell us so much about Chinese culture. Whereas the Tang dynasty figures are always rather theatrical, these Ming attendants are resolutely realistic. They remind me of the bored professional mourners one still sees occasionally at funerals today...

Every collector should have some of these Ming dynasty pottery burial figures in their collection. They are such a good bargain and they tell us so much about Chinese culture. Whereas the Tang dynasty figures are always rather theatrical, these Ming attendants are resolutely realistic. They remind me of the bored professional mourners one still sees occasionally at funerals today...

The bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara is shown standing on a lotus plinth rising from a four-legged platform, his right hand raisedin tribangha and a kamandalu ('holy water' bottle) pendent from the left hand. He is wearing a crown centered by a figure of Amitabha Buddha, and his head is surrounded by an aureole inscribed with flames, at the top of which another image of the Buddha emerges...