CHINE, DEBUT DE LA DYNASTIE QING (1644-1911)

Dong Fangshuo is the legendary Han dynasty official who by stealing and consuming Xi Wangmu's peaches gave himself the power of immortality. The carver has made exceptionally good use of the material depict different subjects of the sculpture. Compare to a stylistically similar carving of an old man gathering medicinal herbs, slightly smaller in size (14.7 cm high), date early Qing dynasty, in the Palace Museum Collection, Beijing, illustrated in Bamboo, Wood and Ivory Carvings, The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum, Hong Kong, 2002, pl. 42.