A RARE DATED AND INSCRIBED GILT-BRONZE FIGURE OF LAOZI

Details

A RARE DATED AND INSCRIBED GILT-BRONZE FIGURE OF LAOZI
DATED TO THE WUWU YEAR, CORRESPONDING TO EITHER 1378 OR 1438, EARLY MING DYNASTY

Finely cast in a seated position with erect posture staring straight ahead, wearing layered robes with voluminous sleeves incised with scroll borders and parted to reveal plain under-robes, his arms resting on a semi-circular armrest with scrolled ends supported on three lion-mask-capped legs terminating in claw feet, his slender hands held in a variation of vitarkamudra, his wizened face with long, pointed beard and pronounced arched brows below hair drawn up in a tight knot surrounded by a small five-tiered crown, the gilding well-preserved, inscribed on the underside of the robe with a lengthy inscription
7¼in. (18.4cm.) high, hardwood stand carved as a miniature horseshoe-back armchair

Lot Essay

The long inscription on the reverse of the overhanging folds of the robes includes a date, Wuwu year, corresponding to either 1378 or 1438; the name of the maker, Chen Yanqing; and refers to Ganzhou prefecture in Shaanxi Xingdusi (or Shaanxi administrative district), which in the early Ming period encompassed large areas of both present-day Gansu and Shaanxi provinces

Compare the similar figure bearing a six-character mark translated as, "Made by Chen Chanqing of Qiantang", sold in our London rooms, December 10, 1979, lot 45