Ivory carving and the combination of two immortals

[Ivory carving and He’erxian]

Ivory carving and He’erxian, late Qing Dynasty, with a height of 10.2 cm and a maximum bottom diameter of 3.5 cm
The image of two young children is depicted using circular carving and carving techniques. One stands on a lake stone, looks back sideways, holds a lotus flower in his hand, and the other holds a box, with ganoderma lucidum clumping around his feet. The person standing on the stone steps on top of his companion’s head with one foot, which is quite childlike. Its shape tends to be stylized, with a large proportion of the head, longer hands than the face, making it childish and cute, while using black paint to dot the eyes increases the character’s demeanor. According to the images and props of the characters in the works, it can be seen that the sculpture is a combination of the two immortals, with a distinct auspicious meaning of “harmony and longevity.”. The most noteworthy thing is that the material is only a small tooth tip, which was originally very limited, but after ingenious design and carving, it makes the viewer unaware, fully demonstrating the ingenuity of the creator. In the collection of the Imperial Palace, there are still several pieces that are similar in theme and style to this work, all of which have some technological characteristics of Guangdong dental carving, and it seems that they should be presented by local officials< "He He Er Xian is a very common theme in arts and crafts in the Ming and Qing dynasties. Its prototype is Han Shan and Shi De, a strange monk from Taizhou during the reign of Tang Zhenguan.". According to the "Biography of Eminent Monks of the Song Dynasty", the two monks looked like crazy. In the cold mountains, they often had "scattered cloth jackets", "wore birch skin as a crown, and dragged large wooden clogs". They were prone to "calling out to abuse others" and "looking at the sky and cursing wildly"; "Shi De once used a staff to hit the statue of the Galan deity, with the wind of 'hating Buddha and cursing ancestors'.". There are also many anecdotes about their miraculous deeds in the legend. Han Shan, who appeared in the folk plastic arts, often held a box in his hand and picked it up with a lotus. The sound of "harmony" and "harmony" implied the meaning of harmony. In the 11th year of Yongzheng's reign in the Qing Dynasty (1733), the imperial court granted Hanshan Mountain the title of "Harmony Saint" and "Harmony Saint", indicating official recognition of folk beliefs, further promoting the popularity of this theme.