17TH-18TH CENTURY

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A FINE BAMBOO CARVING OF A SEATED SAGE
17TH-18TH CENTURY
The elderly sage with sensitively carved face is shown resting his right hand on the wicker basket filled with medicinal plants that rests on the layered outcropping of rock on which he sits, while in his left hand he holds the long ends of the sash that secures his robe and is tied in back with a double-gourd flask. The gnarled staff of his hoe leans against his right side.
6 ¼ in. (15.6 cm.) high, cloth box

Lot Essay

The depiction of the sage with a basket of herbs or flowers indicates that the subject of this carving could be the immortal Lan Caihe or Han Xiang. Han Xiang, a follower of Lu Dongbin, is frequently depicted carrying a basket of flowers, while Lan Caihe was granted immortality for using his basket of medicinal herbs to treat Li Tieguai when he was disguised as a beggar.

Compare a very similar caving depicting the same sage with a basket in the Palace Museum, Beijing illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum - 44 - Bamboo, Wood and Ivory Carvings, Hong Kong, 2002, p. 44, no. 42.

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