17TH/18TH CENTURY

Small eaglewood carvings of individual figures appear to be rare, and stylistically, this finely carved figure is probably closest to small bamboo figures carved during the same period. See the figure of a luohan, also shown reclining in a relaxed manner on a rockwork base, in the Shanghai Museum, illustrated in Ming Qing zhu ke yi shu (Art of Bamboo Carving of Ming and Qing), Taipei, 1999, p. 240, pl. 39, where it is dated Qing dynasty. See, also, the bamboo figure of a drunken man holding a wine cup and resting his head on his hand, signed by Feng Shibin and dated early Qing dynasty, illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum - Bamboo, Wood, Ivory and Rhinoceros Horn Carvings, Hong Kong, 2002, p. 44.