A RARE AND UNUSUAL EAGLEWOOD (CHENXIANGMU) FIGURE OF AN ASCETIC

17TH/18TH CENTURY

Details

A RARE AND UNUSUAL EAGLEWOOD (CHENXIANGMU) FIGURE OF AN ASCETIC
17TH/18TH CENTURY
Finely carved as a bearded figure shown reclining on a section of tree trunk, his head resting on his right hand, wearing a robe tied below his waist and loosely draped around his body baring his bent left leg and foot which is placed on a section of the log above his left shoe that has slipped off
4 1/8 in. (10.5 cm.) long

Provenance

Sydney L. Moss Ltd., London, 1989.

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Lot Essay

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.

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