A rare polychrome Dutch Delftware figure of a smiling Budai or Budai Heshang, circa 1700-1725

Footnotes

Provenance:
Günther Grethe Collection;
With Aronson Antiquairs, Amsterdam, where purchased by the present owner

Literature:
R. Aronson et.al., Dutch Delftware. The Dr Günther Grethe Collection 2004, cat.no. 161, p. 139.

The model is taken from a 17th century Dehua Blanc-de-Chine original, several published examples can be found in the literature. Although not originally produced for export, these objects would have been available to the Dutch potters through the VOC trade routes.

Another polychrome Budai in similar colours is in the collection of the Museum of Fine Arts Boston, USA.

Understanding the Budai Heshang

Few Europeans were aware of the true meaning of the Buddhist and Taoist deities.

Figurines of Buddhist deities found their way from China to Dutch interiors more than three hundred years ago. Two of them, Budai and Guanyin, were extremely popular and were reproduced in Delft in many variants. The seated, laughing Budai Heshang originated as a Chinese Buddhist monk in the second half of the ninth century. In China he is better known as the incarnation of Maitreya, the future Buddha.

Budai became well-known in the Netherlands in the seventeenth century through porcelain and soapstone figurines. The potters in Delft added colours and patterns to Budai's image as they pleased. They also gave him attributes relating to stimulants that were new in the Netherlands at the time, such as a teacup and saucer or a tobacco pipe. The fusion of Chinese and European shapes and decorations is called chinoiserie, a fantasy of China.

In the eighteenth century, the Delftware imitations of Budai changed from an exotic curiosity to a stereotypical object. The figurines reflect the broader context of European perceptions of China, which changed in the eighteenth century from great admiration for the ancient civilisation to a less positive image.

For more reading please visit the resource website maintained by the major Dutch museums: www.delftsaardewerk.nl.