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Lot Essay
The Tianyou Yuanshuai, or the Grand Marshall Tianyou, is part of the Daoist group of deities known as the Four Saints (sisheng), alongside Zhenwu, Heisha, and Tianpeng Yuanshuai. He is most often represented with three faces, six arms, holding in his hands an array of weapons and implements, which he uses to destroy demons and ghosts.
The current figure is very similar to a bronze figure of Tianyou Yuanshuai, dating to the Wanli period, in the Daoist temple Baiyunguan in Beijing, illustrated in Zhongguo daojiao shenxian zaoxiang daxi, Beijing, 2012, p. 99 (fig. 1). Both figures have similar representation of three faces, six arms, partially bare upper torso, bare feet, hair tied in a cloth cap and similar implements in the hands, suggesting they were possibly made around the same period.
The current figure is very similar to a bronze figure of Tianyou Yuanshuai, dating to the Wanli period, in the Daoist temple Baiyunguan in Beijing, illustrated in Zhongguo daojiao shenxian zaoxiang daxi, Beijing, 2012, p. 99 (fig. 1). Both figures have similar representation of three faces, six arms, partially bare upper torso, bare feet, hair tied in a cloth cap and similar implements in the hands, suggesting they were possibly made around the same period.