The smiling figure is modelled wearing a sleeveless garment and trousers, he holds a coin in his left hand and his raised right hand raised holding a lotus. He is seated on a large three-legged toad decorated in green enamels and eyes picked out in black.
Two identical examples are illustrated by John Ayers in The Chinese Porcelain collection of Marie Vergottis, Lausanne, 2004, p. 98-99, no. 85 and 86.
For a pair of figures, see Christie’s NYC, The Ann & Gordon Getty Collection: Chinese and Japanese Works of Art and Textiles, 24 october 2022, lot 988.
Liu Haichan was a Taoist xian (immortal) who was a patriarch of the Quanzhen School, and a master of neidan “internal alchemy” techniques. He learned the secret of immortality from the Chan Chu (“Three-legged Money Toad”) and is a popular Chinese god of wealth
Traditional Chinese and Japanese art frequently represents Liu with a string of square-holed cash coins and a mythical three-legged chanchu (蟾蜍; “toad; toad in the moon”).
Photography : Jérémie Beylard /Agence PHAR
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