Period:Ming dynasty Production date:1522-1620 (circa)
Materials:stoneware, lacquer,
Technique:painted, slipped, lacquered,
Subjects:calligraphy deity
Dimensions:Height: 17.50 centimetres
Description:
Cizhou-type stoneware figure of Shoulao, slipped, painted in iron brown and lacquered. This Cizhou-type stoneware figure represents Shoulao, also known as Shou Xing, the popular god of longevity. Typically he is depicted with an extended cranium suggesting his wisdom, and a long white beard associated with a man of extreme old age; by his side, symbolizing long life, is a spotted deer. He holds a painting or calligraphy scroll in one hand and is seated on a quatrefoil pedestal. It is mould-made, hollow inside and covered with a cream-coloured slip. Dark iron brown is used to pick out details such as the edges of Shoulao’s long loose robes, his eyes, ‘ruyi’-toed slippers and the scroll. A lighter brown shade covers areas of exposed skin and the deer’s pelt. Traces of layered lacquer are visible on the figure’s back and around the pedestal, conceivably added as a devotional act.
IMG
![图片[1]-figure; calligraphy BM-1938-0524.141-China Archive](https://chinaarchive.net/Ming dynasty/Calligraphic works/mid_00256430_001.jpg)
![图片[2]-figure; calligraphy BM-1938-0524.141-China Archive](https://chinaarchive.net/Ming dynasty/Calligraphic works/mid_00355363_001.jpg)
Comments:Harrison-Hall 2001:Two porcelain figures of Shoulao, sitting on a deer, possibly made from the same mould as each other, were excavated in 1957. These were unearthed in southern China outside Jiaxing city in Zhejiang province at the Ming tombs of the famous Ming painter and collector Xiang Yuanbian (1525-91) and of his family. In fact, the figures came from the burial of one of Xiang Yuanbian’s wives.
Materials:stoneware, lacquer,
Technique:painted, slipped, lacquered,
Subjects:calligraphy deity
Dimensions:Height: 17.50 centimetres
Description:
Cizhou-type stoneware figure of Shoulao, slipped, painted in iron brown and lacquered. This Cizhou-type stoneware figure represents Shoulao, also known as Shou Xing, the popular god of longevity. Typically he is depicted with an extended cranium suggesting his wisdom, and a long white beard associated with a man of extreme old age; by his side, symbolizing long life, is a spotted deer. He holds a painting or calligraphy scroll in one hand and is seated on a quatrefoil pedestal. It is mould-made, hollow inside and covered with a cream-coloured slip. Dark iron brown is used to pick out details such as the edges of Shoulao’s long loose robes, his eyes, ‘ruyi’-toed slippers and the scroll. A lighter brown shade covers areas of exposed skin and the deer’s pelt. Traces of layered lacquer are visible on the figure’s back and around the pedestal, conceivably added as a devotional act.
IMG
Comments:Harrison-Hall 2001:Two porcelain figures of Shoulao, sitting on a deer, possibly made from the same mould as each other, were excavated in 1957. These were unearthed in southern China outside Jiaxing city in Zhejiang province at the Ming tombs of the famous Ming painter and collector Xiang Yuanbian (1525-91) and of his family. In fact, the figures came from the burial of one of Xiang Yuanbian’s wives.
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![[Qing Dynasty] British female painter—Elizabeth Keith, using woodblock prints to record China from the late Qing Dynasty to the early Republic of China—1915-China Archive](https://chinaarchive.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/image-191x300.png)
