A 'BLANC DE CHINE' PORCELAIN DOUMU China, Qing dynasty, second half of the 18th centuryThe deity sitting with crossed legs in padmasana position on a base in the shape of a lotus flower, two hands with palms on each other placed in the lap, two others intertwined at chest height, the remaining fourteen arranged around the bust of the figure, each holding a symbolic object, wearing a large robe with a diadem on the head, two impressed marks to the back.41 x 23 cmProvenance: Italian private collection.Doumu is a very popular deity of the Taoist pantheon. According to legend, she was the mother of the seven stars of Ursa Major. Her iconography derives from Marichi, a Buddhist deity.A sculpture very similar to this is illustrated in R.H. Blumenfield, Blanc de Chine. The Great Porcelain of Dehua, Berkeley-Toronto 2002, p. 53.