The figure is seated in Royal Ease (rajalilasana) with ivory blanc de chine glaze, heavily potted, with coiled hair and jewelled corsage. She holds a scroll in her left hand, and crosses her right hand on her right knee, the back impressed with a double gourd and a rectangular seal mark.

Specialist opinion is divided as to its date, but the colour and thickness of potting are consistent with a late Ming origin. At the time of sale, Roger Bluett and Cheng-te-Kia agreed that it was late Ming or early Kangxi. Marchant was the underbidder at the sale.

Literature: Anthony du Boulay, The Duberly Collection of Chinese Art at Winchester College (Winchester, 2019), p. 113

Provenance: Bequeathed as part of the Duberly Collection, 1978; purchased by Major Montagu and Lady Eileen Duberly from the collection of H.V. White, sold Sotheby’s, London, 10 December 1957, lot 90 (£48)

Location: Not on display