Lot 292. A 'Dehua' figure of Damo, 19th-20th century. Estimate 8,000 — 12,000 USD.Photo: Sotheby's

the luohan balancing atop a slender reed above a base of swirling waves, with hands clasped beneath the voluminous folds of long layered robes, the bald head slightly turned to one side with well defined features and penetrating gaze beneath thick furrowed brows, the back impressed with Taoya tang rectangular seal mark - Height 13 1/4  in., 33.7 cm.

From the Collection of Richard Lehman Gray

Provenance: Collection of P.J. Donnelly (d. 1978).

ExhibitionBlanc de Chine: Divine Images in Porcelain, China Institute Gallery, New York, 2002, no. 75.

Note: Compare to two similar examples with the same kiln mark; the first, another figure in the collection of P.J. Donnelly and illustrated in P.J. Donnelly, Blanc de Chine, London, 1969, col. pl. E; the second, in the Hickley Collection, illustrated in Rose Kerr and John Ayers, Blanc de Chine: Porcelain from Dehua, Chicago, 2002, pl. 16.

Sotheby's. Important Chinese Art, New York, 13 sept. 2016, 10:30 AM