Featured Chinese figurine.

Hello everyone, I wanted to ask the forum for help identifying a figurine. The figurine depicts a Chinese man. It's not mine, but a friend of mine bought a collection back in the late 1980s, and this figurine was in it. When I saw it, I immediately liked it and asked him if he thought it was unusual. It's unusual. The figurine is only 4.5 cm in size. I think it's glazed. The glaze is a soft blue-white, very beautiful. He thinks it's Chinese, but I think it's European. It's reminiscent of Staffordshire figurines from the late 17th and early 18th centuries. I'd like to get to the bottom of this.

 

Фото

 

So sweet. A Chinese blanc de Chine little boy, not a man. Looks pretty early to me.

 

Do you think it's made in China? I just couldn't find anything similar,I mean the same small one. What do you think about the period?

 

Yes, I do.

I have never seen one either. It could be a one-off. Maybe an end of day figurine, made with the remaining clay of the day.

Blanc de Chine was already made during the Ming dynasty. This little boy looks like it could be that old. I would advise your friend to show it to an expert, maybe in a museum.
If there is no good museum nearby, they could mail photos to ceramics museum Princessehof in the Netherlands, it is one of the leading museums when it comes to the study of Chinese ceramics:
https://www.princessehof.nl/en/collection/asia-2

Contact:
info@princessehof.nl

 

Thank you very much. Perhaps other forum participants will have additional opinions.

 

Surely people will want to see the bottom.

 

Yes, the bottom is flat. It's hard to see the vertical numbers; they look like inventory numbers.

 

That points to Europe.

 

What kind of bottom did the figurines of that period have in China?

 

By the way, I also found this and the numbers are even similar)

 

The flat bottom here is generally attributed to the Yuan Dynasty. height 8 cm

 

Минг

 

again, I couldn't find the same baby in the same size and nothing similar((

 

Several kinds, not one specific base although blanc de Chine figurines were often hollow.

Looks like that figurine is solid, not hollow. The little boy is hollow and has an air vent hole in the base.

What is it?

 

If this is Europe, who could have made such a small one? It has some cracks from the stove, so the hole probably didn't help. It's just very small, so maybe that's why the bottom is like that, since larger figures have a big hole along the edge. But on this one, it might have been easier to just make a hole.

 

Could be. I know they had different styles for the bases, and I have seen vent holes on the base of blanc de Chine figurines before.
But if the numbers are scratched into the base, it isn't Chinese.

It is best for your friend to ask a museum expert, they will know.
Will you let us know what they say?

 

Huh. That bottom doesn't yell Chinese to me. but I'm out of my comfort zone here. Apparently, the Roman number eight is similar to a Chinese character for good fortune or luck -- people of Chinese descent here liked to have vehicle licence plates with the number eight in them (I was in the insurance biz many moons ago). I mention that only that if it is Chinese, maybe someone marked it for good luck? I'm wondering if it was made as a toy.

 

I'll vote for Chinese, an' old...but that's just a hunch. I like it!

 

Something keeps niggling at my brain about bluish tinted porcelain being very old. Im wondering if the numbers (wich I cant make out) might have been scratched in later ? Asian Porcelains are the hardest things ever to pin down ! I gave up years ago trying. As an aside and strictly from my weird mind I saw the pic of your hand and thought of the Violent Femmes song "Blister in the sun" ! Big hands I know your the one !