Kneeling figure

This kneeling figure holds the handle of a water vessel which is placed on his right knee. His head has well-defined bulging eyes with wide mouth and uneven teeth. He wears a keris tucked into his skirt at the back. The whole piece is painted with underglaze cobalt blue in two tones - a brighter blue for the eyes, handle and skirt, and a darker blue for his skin and hair. The piece is a very rare example of figurative pieces made in north Vietnam for export, probably for the Indonesian market during the 15th century. The grotesque features and the keris worn at the back of the waist suggest that the figure could be a caricature of one of the clown-servants of the Javanese court, who figured prominently in Javanese art.

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