**THREE IVORY FIGURES OF IMMORTALS

Property from the Estate of Marc Haas

Details

**THREE IVORY FIGURES OF IMMORTALS
LATE MING DYNASTY

The tallest figure, the female immortal He Xiangu, shown grinding the 'elixir of life' in a mortar she holds in her left hand, wearing long high-collared robes belted at the waist with a knotted sash and with long sleeves, a celestial scarf billowed behind her head, the top of her head filled in with a wood cap and her feet added; the second figure depicting Han Xiangzi playing the flute, his long robes belted below his belly with a girdle of leaves and a sash, his face well carved with a gentle expression; the third a figure of Cao Guoqiu shown holding a jade tablet, his face well carved with long beard and kind expression below an official's cap painted black (repaired)
11¼, 7 7/8 and 8½in. (28.5, 20 and 21.5cm.) high, wood stands (3)

Exhibited

Figure of He Xiangu: London, Spink & Son Ltd, Ivories of China and the East, November 8-23, 1984, no. 4

Lot Essay

The female immortal, He Xiangu, is a popular subject in ivory. An example was included in the exhibition, Chinese Ivories from the Shang to the Qing, British Museum, May 24-August 19, 1984, Catalogue, no. 44, where there is a detailed discussion of the mythology surrounding her. In particular there is mention of Xiangu gaining the power of flight by ingesting crushed mica

See, also, op. cit., no. 26 for a Guanyin that is closely related in style, with a similar 'flying scarf', the Buddhist origins of which are discussed in the catalogue entry

Compare the similar figure of Han Xiangzi illustrated by Jenyns, Chinese Art III, New York, 1982, rev. ed., no. 123; and a similar figure included in the exhibition, Ivories of China and the East, Spink & Son, Ltd., London, November 8-23, 1984, Catalogue, no. 40