Tsou Kuan, God of Good Luck, Ming Porcelain Figure, Antique Plate, 1911

This is Plate 70 from Chinese Porcelain and Hard Stones, an original 1911 color plate of Chinese porcelain showing a standing figure of Tsou Kuan, god of good luck. The green brocade robe carries chrysanthemum sprays on the shoulders and two four-clawed dragons with the sacred jewel across the front and sleeves, above a border with horses of Mu Wang on waves. A white panel with a flying crane sits above the jeweled belt. Gorer and Blacker describe it as Ming period and record it in the Salting Collection, Victoria and Albert Museum; height 18 5/8 inches (47 cm), width 8 inches (20 cm).

Edgar Gorer and J. F. Blacker brought out Chinese Porcelain and Hard Stones in 1911 through Bernard Quaritch, the New Bond Street bookseller, in an edition of one thousand numbered copies. The two volumes carry two hundred and fifty four color plates, each a full page photographic reproduction of a single piece or group, with a tissue guard and a facing 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.

The plates were made while large collections of Chinese porcelain were being formed in Britain and America, and the text names the collections that held many of the pieces illustrated, among them those of P. A. B. Widener, George Salting and Richard Bennett.

Even age toning. A few small foxing spots in the margin. Slight wear at the top left corner. Minor edge wear, shallow nicks along the left. One larger brown mark.

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