Kuan Yin in Brocade Robes, Ming Porcelain Figure, Antique Color Plate, 1911

This antique color plate is Plate 72 of Gorer and Blacker's Chinese Porcelain and Hard Stones, 1911. It shows a standing figure of Kuan Yin. The skirt shows lotus in aubergine, yellow, blue and iron red on green over black scrolls, and the robe a soft green ground with lotus, peaches and shou characters. An aubergine cape covers the back of the head, and the colored necklace ends in a red tassel, which the authors call very uncommon. Gorer and Blacker describe it as Ming period and record it in the collection of Benjamin Altman, Esq.; height 19 1/2 inches (50 cm), width 7 1/4 inches (18 cm).

This is one of the two hundred and fifty four color plates in Chinese Porcelain and Hard Stones, published in London by Bernard Quaritch in 1911 for Edgar Gorer and J. F. Blacker. The piece was photographed and the plate printed in color, so the glaze, the palette and the modeling of the original are carried over directly rather than interpreted by a draftsman. Each plate faced a page of description in English and French. The plates are color collotypes, and the book records that it was produced and printed by the Menpes Printing and Engraving Company of London and Watford.

Edgar Gorer (1872 to 1915) was a London dealer in Chinese art. He traded as S. Gorer and Son from 170 New Bond Street, opened a shop at 500 Fifth Avenue in New York, and sold to Sir William Lever, later Lord Leverhulme. He was lost on 7 May 1915 when the Lusitania was torpedoed.

Even age toning. A few small foxing spots in the margin. Slight wear at the top left corner.

This is an original antique print, not a modern reproduction. This item is sold unframed.