Lot #19: Chinese Shiwan Porcelain Figure of Damo Bodhidharm

Early 20th Century glazed shiwan porcelain figure; depicting DamoBodhidharma standing barefoot on swirling waves; H: 38 cm, L: 20 cm,3896 grams. Bodhidharma was a Buddhist monk who lived during the 5thor 6th century. He is traditionally credited as the transmitter of ChanBuddhism to China, and regarded as its first Chinese patriarch. Accordingto Chinese legend, he also began the physical training of the monks ofShaolin Monastery that led to the creation of Shaolin kungfu. In Japan, heis known as Daruma. Little contemporary biographical information onBodhidharma exists, and subsequent accounts have become layered withlegend regarding Bodhidharma's origins, including the date of his arrival.One of the earliest accounts of his biography exists in an ancient medievalChinese text, The Anthology of the Patriarchal Hall (952), identifyingBodhidharma as the 28th Patriarch of Buddhism in an uninterrupted linethat extends all the way back to the Gautama Buddha himself.