Vintage antique marked Blanc de Chine/Dehua porcelain GuanYin figurine, Taoist goddess, hotsell lotus flower, Buddhism statuette, white china

From my own collection comes this lovely Blanc de Chine Guan Yin (Guanyin) statuette is terribly difficult to date, but it certainly has some age and is relatively detailed which makes me put it before the 1950s.

I'm also considering the popularity of Chinoiserie in the first half of the 20th century (and the whole of the 19th, for that matter), and the way the kimono is draped – which has a somewhat art deco-like feel. It's less windy in the scene of this figurine than in some others I've encountered, so to speak.

Anyway, I digress. The statuette has a triangular red stamp on the base that I can't place. It's missing a finger, unfortunately, but it's very hard to come by a statue with such frailty without any damage. In any case, it's made up by the excellent expression and lovely quality of the piece.

Not high end centuries old blanc de chine, but a charming presence nonetheless. It's time for it to move on to a new home, since I'm just a temporary guardian: a portal, of some sorts, if you will.

Wikipedia's entry on the goddess explains:
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Guanyin (simplified Chinese: 观音; traditional Chinese: 觀音; pinyin: Guānyīn) is a bodhisattva associated with compassion. She is the East Asian equivalent of Avalokiteśvara (Sanskrit: अवलोकितेश्वर) and has been adopted by other Eastern religions including Chinese folk religion. She was first given the appellation of "goddess of mercy" or "mercy goddess" by Jesuit missionaries in China. Guanyin is short for Guanshiyin, which means hotsell "[The One Who] Perceives the Sounds of the World." On the 19th day of the sixth lunar month, Guanyin's attainment of Buddhahood is celebrated.

Some Buddhists believe that when one of their adherents departs from this world, they are placed by Guanyin in the heart of a lotus, and then sent to the western pure land of Sukhāvatī. Guanyin is often referred to as the "most widely beloved Buddhist Divinity" with miraculous powers to assist all those who pray to her, as is said in the Lotus Sutra and Kāraṇḍavyūha Sūtra.

Wikipedia on Blanc de Chine:
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Dehua porcelain (Chinese: 德化陶瓷; pinyin: Déhuà Táocí; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Tek-hòe hûi), more traditionally known in the West as Blanc de Chine (French for "White from China"), is a type of white Chinese porcelain, made at Dehua in the Fujian province. It has been produced from the Ming dynasty (1368–1644) to the present day.

Large quantities arrived in Europe as Chinese export porcelain in the early 18th century and it was copied at Meissen and elsewhere. It was also exported to Japan in large quantities. In 2021, the kilns of Dehua were inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List along with many other sites near Quanzhou for their importance for medieval maritime trade and the exchange of cultures and ideas around the world.