He Chaozong

He Chaozong fashioned mainly Buddhist white porcelain statuary in the tradition of the Dehua kilns in Fujian Province, known in the west as Blanc-de-Chine.

A gazetteer entry for 1763 mentions him with other art notables of the Ming dynasty and establishes that the artist had earned a considerable reputation by his own day.

He Chaozong and the few other artists of the Dehua kilns were nearly unique in Chinese ceramic history which was characterized by anonymous and industrial scale production.

Blumenfield in his Blanc de Chine presents the reader with what may be one of the few believable examples of the artist, replete with a hidden inscription visible to ultraviolet light.

Of great interest is the manner of carving of the piece which shows none of the exuberant flowing robes of other examples of the master that may be simply just superficially attractive to the eye.