Chinese Mud Man with Gourd Figurine

This figurine is a Chinese mud man with intricate detail. This figurine has individual strands of hair, beard and facial features that stand out from the figurine, as well as the edges of his robe and sleeves that have been drawn out to a very thin line. The colored glazes are bright and appealing, especially the bright cobalt glaze on the pants, gourd and his hat. The stem of the gourd is chipped. There is a strand of hair in back that has a chip that is glazed over and must have happened in the production. The delicate thin edge of his left sleeve is rough. There is a missing tendril of hair on the left side of his head. The base of the figure has the word CHINA impressed into the rough clay. The delicacy of the fine features makes them easily damaged and it is not uncommon to find the finer details with damage. The imperfections do not detract from the ability of this figure to display very well. The production likely dates to the early 1900's. The figure in 4 1/4 inches tall (11 cm.) and the base has a diameter of 2 7/8 inches (7.25 cm).