A Franciscan friar and a Portuguese Catholic priest, St. Anthony is the patron saint of Lisbon, Padua, and many places in Portugal and the former Portuguese Empire. Here, the saint is dressed in a Franciscan habit, holding the Christ Child in one hand and another hand outstretched holding the Bible. This figure belongs to a group of specially commissioned Dehua figures made for export to the west. The subject matter suggests that it was made for a Portuguese Catholic. Chinese and European motifs are combined to create a uniquely hybrid object of veneration. For example, the artisan may have modelled the saint’s elongated earlobes to convey the figure’s sanctity, paralleling the Buddhist tradition of depicting enlightened individuals in this manner.
