A CHINA TRADE FIGURE OF A SEATED MERCHANT

LATE 18TH/EARLY 19TH CENTURY

细节

A CHINA TRADE FIGURE OF A SEATED MERCHANT
Late 18th/early 19th century
The carved wood man shown seated with hands on his legs and slippers tucked under his skirt, his face with serene expression and his hat with ivory finial, his head modelled separately from his body, the chair draped with a red cloth
16 7/8in (42.9cm.) high

拍品专文

A sculpture tradition developed in the 18th century China trade encompassing both portrait figures and character-type representations. Including unbaked clay and nodding-head figures as well as carved wood, the category's apogee is undoubtedly the life-size figure of the merchant Yamqua given to the East India Marine Society by Benjamin Hodges in 1801. (See C. Crossman, The China Trade, pp. 307-21). Figures like the present example enabled Westerners to bring home a work of art embodying the interesting characters they encountered while in the far-off East.
Compare with a seated Lady sold Christie's New York, 23 January 2001, lot 100