A RARE PAIR OF POLYCHROMED WOOD FIGURES OF ACOLYTES

Details

A RARE PAIR OF POLYCHROMED WOOD FIGURES OF ACOLYTES
SONG/YUAN DYNASTY

Each carved in a kneeling position with hands clasped in a gesture of prayer at the chest, one with head cocked to the side with a fierce expression, the other with a more contemplative countenance, dressed in similar robes closing at the side and belted at the waist, one in red with black borders, the other green with red borders, and each wearing an unusual peaked animal skin hood, possibly a bear skin, painted black with red inside the ears and inside the mouth which rises above each figure's head, some losses and age cracks, paint flaking--23 1/2 in. (59.8cm.) high (2)

Provenance

Sold in these rooms December 2, 1989, lot 45 from a European Collection

Lot Essay

The figures are a couple, the one in red, kneeling on one knee and with a wrathful expression, is a man and the one in green, a woman. They may derive from ancient rituals of exorcism that were presided over by the Fangxiang, or officer assigned to expelling demons and diseases, as recorded in the Zhou li (Rites of Zhou): "in his official function he wears (over his head) a bearskin having four eyes of gold, and is clad in a black upper garment and a red lower garment. Grasping his lance and brandishing his shield, he leads the many officials to perform the seasonal exorcism, searching through houses and driving out pestilences". Derk Bodde, Festivals in Classical China: New Year and Other Annual Observances during the Han Dynasty, 206 B.C.-A.D. 220 (Princeton, N.J., 1975), pp. 78-79