Antique Rare Ancestor Huntsman with Rifle, China (16743)

Description

This unusual carved ancestor-huntsman figure carving stands with legs spread firmly on a simple domed pedestal, facing half right holding an 19^th century flint lock rifle with both hands. He wears a high fotou hat typical of the early Qing, a traditional undergarment and coat, and a red vest reaching to thick boots.

The Keith Stevens’ article “An Unusual and Extraordinary Ancestral Image” describes a similar ancestor figure of a huntsman with a flintlock gun, which he stated was the only ancestral image in his vast collection which “depicts the calling of the deceased.” (Stevens, Journal of Hong Kong) His piece was from Hunan, South Central China, and we were informed that our image was also from near that area.

Chinese ancestral figures carrying firearms are rare and culturally significant as symbols of masculinity and heritage. They were carved mainly in in Southern China, especially in Guizhou and Hunan provinces. Military figures with firearms were more common in the Qing Dynasty during periods of social disorder when use of local military forces was more prevalent, which consistent with date of his flintlock rifle.

Stevens dates his piece about 1870 based on the flint lock which is thus likely the date of our carving. Like all ancestor figures this was displayed on a home altar that reflect the duty of filial piety and ancestor worship. The curved bung on the back cavity is molded to the shape of his leaning body with its consecrated contents. Carved from a single piece of dense wood, it is in good condition with the rifle end reattached and its lacquer covered from exposure to incense and candle smoke. Like the  Stevens’ collection image, ours has lost much of its original paint except for the skin color on its face and red traces on the front, since ancestral images are “usually weathered by exposure to sub-tropical damp and heat which removes much of the original paint within a decade or so.” (Stevens Chinese Gods, p. 27).

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

Sources:

Keith Stevens, Journal of the Honk Kong Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, Volume 18, 1978.

Keith Stevens, “An Unusual and Extraordinary Ancestral Image “in Journal of Hong Kong Vol 13, 1998.

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

The Canterbury Auction Galleries, The Three Day Sale to include The Keith Stevens Collection, October 4^th, 5^th, and 6^th, 2016.