Posted 9 years ago
forever8
(1 item)
My Luck Charm,
Crossed my path last Christmas period, Hidden amongst items put aside the footpath for free in Christchurch nz, this piece caught my eye an attention, Scene done a bit of research on this piece of art work an found it has a positive background :) I had been told its 18th century soap stone carving by antique dealers in Christchurch, Unsure if that is a accurate statement on this item interested to know if anyone knows the stone type an history this is a hand carved stone sculpture
Laughing Buddhas are one of the popular Buddhist figure in the world. They are famous for the cheerful nature of the character in the statue. The Laughing Buddha is generally known in China as Budai or Putai, Bodai in Vietnamese and Hotei in Japanese. Elsewhere, the laughing Buddha statue is generally known by Happy Buddha, jolly Buddha or Chinese Buddha.
Looking at it I thought it was wood generally when you see soapstone carvings they have a smooth texture also the dark areas look like they are painted on instead of being a feature of the stone. Soapstone has dark areas spots and different colors which a carver will use for different features he is carving on a piece.If you google Chinese soapstone carving you will see what I mean. Too me it doesn't look right for a 18th century piece but I could be wrong.