A GILT-BRONZE FIGURE OF AN OFFICIAL

17TH CENTURY

細節

A GILT-BRONZE FIGURE OF AN OFFICIAL
17TH CENTURY
Shown standing on an integral base, with hands held in front of the body, wearing layered robes secured by a belt and with finely incised borders and a long pendent tab in front, his face finely cast with downcast expression, and his official's hat secured by a pin as well as a tasseled cord that issues from the sides and is gathered beneath his long goatee and atop a rectangular pendant
13¾ in. (35 cm.) high

拍品專文

This figure possibly represents Tianguan, the Official of Heaven, one of the Three High Officials of Daoism. Tianguan, whose role is to give people their alotted share of luck and happiness, is portrayed with a handsome and benevolent face. For another figure identified as Tianguan shown wearing a ribbed official's hat also secured with long cords and wearing a similar rectangular pendant, but holding a hu tablet, see Buddhist Images in Gilt Metal, Chang Foundation, Taiwan, 1993, pp. 174-5, no. 80. See, also, the similar, but very large bronze figure (183 cm.) with hands held in the same position as the present figure, dated to the Ming dynasty, from the Nitta Group Collection, illustrated in The Crucible of Compassion and Wisdom, National Palace Museum, Taiwan, 1989, pl. 122.