Lot Essay
The figure represents Tian Nu San Hua, 'the celestial maiden scattering flowers'. Tian Nu are female Apsaras, or Devas, often known as fairies or goddesses. Here she is leaning forward as if to see where a flower had fallen.
Audience tablets, hu, made of jade, ivory or wood, date back to very early times when they were made of bamboo and carried at the waist by every man of any standing for jotting down notes. During the Han dynasty they came to be regarded as a badge of rank, those of ivory reserved for feudal princes and higher officials, and from the 6th century these Hu were also known as Shou Ban ('hand tablet'). A high official would hold such a tablet when having audience with the Emperor, clasping it at its base so that it was mouth-high and writing on it the Imperial commands, and so they became known more specifically as audience tablets and were treasured as heirlooms. The Chinese expression "there is no ivory tablet in this household" (jia wu xiang hu) means that no-one in the family has held high office.
Audience tablets, hu, made of jade, ivory or wood, date back to very early times when they were made of bamboo and carried at the waist by every man of any standing for jotting down notes. During the Han dynasty they came to be regarded as a badge of rank, those of ivory reserved for feudal princes and higher officials, and from the 6th century these Hu were also known as Shou Ban ('hand tablet'). A high official would hold such a tablet when having audience with the Emperor, clasping it at its base so that it was mouth-high and writing on it the Imperial commands, and so they became known more specifically as audience tablets and were treasured as heirlooms. The Chinese expression "there is no ivory tablet in this household" (jia wu xiang hu) means that no-one in the family has held high office.