STATUETTE

White bisque figure of the Buddhist monk "Ho-shang" or "Pu-tai Ho-shang" - "the Priest with the Hempen Bag". The Japanese call him "Ho-tei" and recognise him for his enormous girth, his love of children and his large hempen sack which can be a bed, a receptacle for the hundred precious things or a trap for curious children. The figurine shows a smiling monk missing one front tooth; the ears have the traditional pendulous ear lobes of a Buddhist saint while the head is bald,the chin double and the feet bare. Eyes have been scored into the ceramic. The figure's right hand clasps the underside of his enormous belly, the left is bent up holding the sack which is thrown over the left shoulder onto his back. There are Japanese characters marked in blue on the base and there is a small pinhole sized aperture in the centre. This item, together with a number of other articles, was presented to the W.A. Government following the Sister State agreement between it and the Hyogo State Prefecture on 23 June 1981. The original Hyogo exhibition, set up in mid June in the Allendale Square, was essentially a trade exhibition but Sir Charles Court, the Premier of Western Australia, assured Governor Tokitada Sakai of Japan's Hyogo Prefecture that the exhibits would be used to set up a permanent display, a memento of the Sister State relationship. A part of the Beaufort Street Gallery was set aside for this purpose and the items remained there from 1981 until refurbishing of museum areas in 1989.

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Collection

History Collection

Collection Item Data