Lot Essay
The late Ming period Zhangzhou gazetteers of local crafts note that ivory carvings were made for "pleasure", and this also applies to the wide variety of locally produced figures carved in Chinese domestic taste. It is this range that becomes the staple of the whole Chinese ivory figure industry in later years, ending at Canton with pairs and sets of secular statuettes - court ladies, dignitaries and consorts. Most of the figures in the earlier range made for the domestic market which can be identified have a popular connotation as auspicious deities and spirits: they are part of a group and "encode a series of personal and social targets common to many individuals in Imperial China; long life, official position, wealth, happiness, and male progeny". They represent deities, from both the Buddhist and Taoist pantheons, who played important parts in the twin religions of everyday life: popular and mystical worship, primarily organised by the Taoist church, and official cults and rites administered by the civil service bureaucracy.
A set like the present lot, depicting historical personages, would have an edifying and auspicious appeal to a private buyer teaching his children about the great figures of Chinese history, which traditionally represented a significant part of the syllabus for the series of official examinations culminating in admission to the Hanlin Academy.
A set like the present lot, depicting historical personages, would have an edifying and auspicious appeal to a private buyer teaching his children about the great figures of Chinese history, which traditionally represented a significant part of the syllabus for the series of official examinations culminating in admission to the Hanlin Academy.