Antique Attendant Sword Bearer to Guandi, God of War, China (16112LSE)

Description

Guandi lived during the latter part of the Han Dynasty and is the best known and most revered Chinese military historical hero. He was canonized in 1504 as Guan Di, the Taoist God of War and China’s Protector. According to Keith Stevens, he is “all things to all men, not only prayed to for protection and prosperity but also to solve all problems: personal, domestic, national, and universal.” Chou-Tsang (Chou-Tsang) is Guandi’s attendant and the bearer of his weapons – a sword – and often appears in a triad with Guandi and his adopted son Kwan P’ing. Paintings portray a duo with Chou-Tsang behind Guandi. Chou-Tsang is portrayed dressed in a lacquer gilt uniform or wearing maille with either black or dark skin tones and often, as here, holding a sword now missing while facing Guandi. Portrayed with black skin tones, he has an intense expression highlighted by inset glass eyes and wears a military uniform with raised beads bordering his topcoat tied above his waist, a belt below his stomach, and heavy black military boots and hat. The sword he originally held is now missing.  His plain round pedestal has an indentation in the middle, possibly to affix the figure to a larger configuration.  One source claims that ancient Chinese considered black the color of kings and used it to portray them more than another color, while black is considered the color of the Tao by Taoists. (Wikipedia)  Chou-Tsang is normally placed to Guandi’s left with eyes downcast in respect to the general and with his left foot forward ready to spring into action. Given its size, this figure, which is fairly rare, was probably  part of a wealthy home altar, clan or small temple shrine along with other carved images. The statue was covered on the back and front with gilt and polychrome, most which remains on the front, but worn off the rear due to age and use. Otherwise, it is in very good condition. The figure has its original sealed bung indicating it was consecrated.

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Sources

Keith Stevens, Chinese Gods: The Unseen World of Spirits and Demons,  London, Collins and Brown Ltd, 1997.

Wikipedia, Color in Chinese Culture.