821 - Meissen Königliche Porzellanmanufaktur

Meissen Königliche Porzellanmanufaktur A Meissen porcelain figure of a seated Budai Modelled with an open mouth and pierced ears, one hand resting on the knee, the other beneath the thigh. The robe outlined in gold and scattered with alchemical symbols, chains around the neck, and a gold lobster on the head. Hollow, unmarked base. Height 9.8 cm. C. 1715 - 20, the gilding attributed to the Seuter workshop, Augsburg. These Budai or pagoda figures were designed as incense burners. The perfumed smoke could escape through the mouth or the head. In the 1770 inventory, Claus Boltz mentions several examples of these figures in different sizes, many of them described as “defect” or “entzwey” (in two). Provenance Röbbig art dealers, Munich. South German private collection. Literature Cf. Rückert, Meissener Porzellan 1710–1810, Munich 1966, cat. nos. 836 and 840 f. See also Bursche, Meissen. Steinzeug und Porzellan des 18. Jahrhunderts. Kunstgewerbemuseum Berlin, Berlin 1980, cat. no. 296. Cf. Glanz des Barock. Die Sammlung Ludwig in Bamberg, Bamberg 1995, no. 121. Cf. Boltz, Japanisches Palais-Inventar 1770 und Turmzimmer-Inventar 1769, in: Keramos 153/1996, p. 53. Cf. den Blaauwen, Meissen Porcelain in the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam 2000, cat. no. 308, the two pagodas/Budai figures with red lobsters on their heads.