A CINNABAR LACQUER BUDAI, QING DYNASTY, POSSIBLY BY LU GUISHENGThe ceramic statue entirely covered with a thick layer of rich cinnabar lacquer, carved and incised in deep reliefChina, 18th - 19th centuryThe smiling happy Buddha depicted in his usual laid-back seated position with a prayer bead in his right hand. His garment decorated in neatly incised swastika and key fret borders, the quality of which could lead one to believe that this could even be and 18th century work. The base with black lacquer coating.This figure appears to be carved in the style of the Qing master carver, Lu Guisheng, who is famous for his signed lacquer panels and is also known to have carved lacquer figures. See a taller finely carved lacquer figure of the God of Longevity, Shoulao, illustrated in Derek Clifford, Chinese Carved Lacquer, London, 1992, pl. 123.Shape: FiguralWeight: 181.4 gramsDimensions: Width 9 cm.Condition: Visible break near the right foot. Deep patina and wear consistent with age.Provenance From the collection of Nelson T Johnson, US ambassador to the Republic of China from 1935 to 1941, and thence by descent.Auction result: FINE CHINESE CERAMICS & WORKS OF ART. Sotheby's, 13 MAY 2009, LONDON, lot 104. (for a related figure, bearing similarly incised swastika)清代紅漆布袋和尚陶瓷造像，施一層厚重朱紅漆，深浮雕中國， 十八至十九世紀造型： 人物造像重量： 181.4 克尺寸： 寬 9 厘米.品相：右脚損壞，年代所致磨損，包漿凝重來源：Nelson T Johnson 收藏，1935 至1941美國駐中華民國大使，一直在其收藏中到現在