A RARE SANCAI GLAZED ROOF TILE OF SAMANTABHADRA, MING DYNASTYChina, 1368-1644. Well modeled on an arched tile riding on his elephant, the left hand on his chest, dressed in long flowing robes cascading in voluminous folds, the long hair tied behind a foliate tiara, his face with a serene expression and downcast eyes, covered overall in sumptuous glazes of emerald-green, amber, ochre, and black.Provenance: Theodore Schrire, Cape Town, South Africa, and thence by descent in the same family. Theodore Schrire (1906-1991) attained his MA at the University of Cape Town, where he also received the medal in physiology in 1925. He worked as a general surgeon in private practice and was attached to the department of surgery at the University of Cape Town Medical School under Professor Saint. In 1955 he was awarded the Hamilton-Bailey medal of the Medical Association of South Africa. He later worked as the assistant editor of the South African Medical Journal, where he published numerous papers and edited two books, Emergencies: Casualty Organization and Treatment (1962), and Surgical Emergencies: Diagnoses and Management (1972). After retirement, he pursued his passions and became a respected collector of Chinese works of art, Netsuke, maps of Africa, Palestine and Judaica, and a variety of literary works.Condition: Good condition with some wear, small glaze chips, signs of weathering, soil encrustations, and expected firing flaws, the neck with an old repair.Weight: 4,990 gDimensions: Height 39.5 cmKnown as Puxian in Chinese, Samantabhadra is sometimes shown in Chinese art with feminine characteristics, bearing similar dress and features to some depictions of Guanyin. It is in this guise that Samantabhadra is revered as the patron bodhisattva of the monasteries associated with Mount Emei in western China. Some believe that the white elephant mount of Samantabhadra was the same elephant that appeared to Queen Maya, the mother of the Buddha, to herald his birth.Literatureparison:Compare a related blue and sancai glazed roof tile of a figure astride an elephant, 27.2 cm high, also dated to the Ming dynasty, in the collection of the Syracuse University Art Museum, object number 2001.0026.Auction resultparison:Type: Closely relatedAuction: Christie’s New York, 15 September 2016, lot 844Price: USD 25,000 or approx.EUR 29,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writingDescription: A Pair of Sancai Equestrian-Form Roof Tiles, Ming Dynasty (1368-1644)Expert remark:pare the closely related glaze and modeling technique, note that this lot consists of two figures.明代罕見三彩普賢騎象琉璃瓦中國，1368-1644年。普賢修眉細目，雙眼微合，面相沉靜莊嚴，左手置於胸前，身著飄逸長跑，頭戴葉狀王冠，騎在白象上。琉璃瓦造型良好，通體施三彩釉。