Antique Mandarin Official with Inscription and Original Consecration Slip, China (16479B)

Description

During the Qing Dynasty, being a civil official was a revered position achievable by passing rigid exams. Designation as one was so significant that families sought to perpetuate this concept through the generations in carved and painted renderings of their ancestors

This ancestor figure is portrayed as an idealized Mandarin official rather than an individual portrait. His lacquer-hued face is serene and kind, with high-arched eyebrows, eyes, and facial hair applied with soft brushstrokes. He is dignified and detached with a “somber forward gaze” and inexpressive mouth with no indication of his emotions, tastes, or personality like a deity or ruler who instills awe and devotion. His iconic forward facing rigid pose is removed from worldly activity with bent arms and hands on knees inside the armrests as a dignified, eternal presence rather than a living human.  The high back chair detailed in front and back with a curved back, vertical slats, short armrests and feet resting on a red pedestal reinforce his high rank or his family’s desire to depict him as attaining one.

His short black Mandarin jacket with four buttons and wide sleeves and cuffs lined with a gold gilt border, indicate high social or bureaucratic status. His plain long gown  extends above his black boots with thick white soles. Boots were really high status as they  cost as much as a servant earned in a year. States Garrett (p. 74) “…they were such a symbol of superiority that a proverb at the time stated, ‘A man n boots will not speak to a man in shoes.” A center sash between the legs retains its original red, black, and gold paint with stylized archaic dragons/phoenixes or florals which in folk art like this traditionally symbolized prestige, high administrative authority, and an elite lineage. His simplified variation of a court or scholar cap (Guan) topped by a round finial was permitted for only those of .scholar rank.

The red and gold lacquer on the base was typical for 19th-century southern Chinese provincial caving where Mandarin official statues were common for household or lineage altars. What is atypical is the three hand-painted gold Chinese characters from right to left: Fàn, the family surname, Mào an honorific character meaning “splendid,” “industrious,” or “to praise” and Qīng a high-ranking title or term of high respect translated as “minister,” “lord,” or “noble official”. Rather than a generic, nameless official, the statue depicts a historical ancestor or localized deity named Lord Fan Mao (Fan Maoqing) suggesting that this image was blended portrait and idealized depiction.

The cavity in the rear has the most historical, spiritual and financial significance. The missing covering reveals the original intact consecration slip (fú) placed there during an eye-opening ceremony performed by a priest which is rarely found. This ceremony added life to the carving and enabled to ancestor to enter the statue as his spiritual home. Original scripts are extremely rare as many were removed, destroyed and deteriorated over time. Intact slips provide historical and spiritual authenticity to the sculpture.

 

Click here for the Blog Consecrating Wooden Images to Imbue Them with A Life Force

Sources

Valery M. Garrett, A Collector’s Guide to Chinese Dress Accessories, Singapore,  Times Editions, 1997.

Valery Garret, Chinese Clothing, An Illustrated Guide.  Hong Kong, Oxford University Press, 1994.