A CARVED HEHE ERXIAN BAMBOO GROUP

QING DYNASTY, 18TH CENTURY

细节

A CARVED HEHE ERXIAN BAMBOO GROUP
QING DYNASTY, 18TH CENTURY
Each figure is modelled with a rounded face, mouth agape in a smiling expression, their ample bellies protruding over the loosely worn robes. One twin is standing with one foot raised onto a small projecting rock in the foreground, clasping in both hands long stems of flowering lotus to his left-side, resting against a rocky boulder beside his companion who is seated, grasping a lingzhi spray in one hand, the other holding a fruit whilst resting upon a box.
6 1/8 in. (15.5 cm.) high

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Angela Kung

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The Hehe Erxian, or the Two Immortals of Harmony and Unity, were believed to preside over happy marriages. The two deities originated from famous poet-monks of the Tang dynasty (618-906), Hanshan and Shide. In later Ming and Qing dynasty depictions, these two figures often appear as young boys. The imagery of the lotus and the box each form the same homophone, he: the first meaning 'harmony' and the second, 'unity'.

Compare with a very similar but slightly smaller group attributed to the early 18th century illustrated by Sydney Moss, Between Heaven and Earth, London, 1988, no. 21; and another similar but larger example is illustrated by L. Tam and Ip Yee, Chinese Bamboo Carving, Part I, Hong Kong, 1978, pp. 414-415, no. 138.