Antique Female Attendant with Offerings, China (19035BKE) SPECIAL PRICE

Description

Statues of attendants often appear as a pair looking inward and flanking a deity, unless they are very important ones and look straight ahead. They may carry a range of offerings. This antique Chinese woodcarving appears to be a Taoist image likely placed on a home altar along with deities, house gods and ancestors to bring wishes of fu, translated as blessings and good fortune, to the household. She has a blissful expression, pursed lips in a serene smile and downcast eyes of a reverent attendant. Her hair flows down her back under a decorative cap as she  wears a traditional high collared outer robe over a shorter undergarment with a front broad sash. Hands held at her chest covered by a ritual cloth, she holds a plate with offerings of 3 dumplings or fruit, possibly a peach trio, Chinese longevity symbols, as a 3-item offering is a pun for a group of three ancient gold or silver coins known as tael or yuanbao,  a symbol of wealth. They also represent a wish for high status by passing of three different levels of examinations in China’s imperial examination system that lead to a career in civil service. The back cavity indicates she was consecrated. It is in very good condition for its age and use with expected cracks, wood losses and deterioration to the base and is mounted on a modern frosted Acrylic base.

Sources

Patricia Bjaaland Welch, Chinese Art: A Guide to Motifs and Visual Images, Vermont, Tuttle Publishing, 2008.

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