Antique Rare Queen Mother of the West on Horse Holding Taoist Cup of Immortality (16297B)

Description

The Queen Mother of the West is revered as one of the most significant of the female Taoist deities, and as a syncretic deity she has a large Buddhist and Popular Religion following. She was the first female deity to both have “attained the Tao” and be represented in Chinese art. Her immeasurable powers include her complete control over life and creation as well as death and destruction. As the Tao goddess of life, fertility and granting immortality, she is the patron deity of women, a divine teacher who controls the length of lives, and is closely associated with maintaining virtue. Lee Irvin calls her one of the Great Chinese Goddesses who are imperially sanctioned and epitomize the feminine role of compassionate protectors who grant health, long life and safety to all.

Extremely well modeled, this exquisite carving has the delicate features of a mature woman with a round face, heavy lidded eyes, full checks, and a small chin. Gilt highlights heighten her infectious radiant smile. Regal jewelry and attire reflect her high status, including net-like shoulder garment over a long-sleeved robe, long earrings and elaborate necklace below a lacquered collar. Her striking headdress is centered by a phoenix, her key iconographic feature and an emblem of beauty symbolizing the sun.  She holds a cup containing the elixir of immortality which grants eternal life. Her graceful fingers are in a variation of the karana mudra, the most important Taoist mudra used by priests and masters to cleanse and purify and emanate energy to rid obstacles and unwanted energy.

As with several of our pieces, she seated on a regal horse with a bell hanging from a strap on his chest, head turned with pointed ears expressing its alertness and long tail draped around its left leg. The Queen Mother of the West became associated with horses through the legendary Tale of King Mu, the Zhou Dynasty (1046–256 BCE) emperor who traveled to her famed palace on Mount Kunlun to seek immortality in a chariot drawn by eight divine horses. These horses were described in a popular historical romance story in the mid 17^th century that then became a common theme for Chinese decorative art and sculpture. This widespread artistic motif reinforced the association between the Queen Mother of the West and the noble horses, linking these noble steeds to the journey for immortality. Also, Dr. Thomas Ritter notes that the frequent presence of horses in Taoist images symbolizes “man’s harmony with and the elegance of nature “ [in] Lao Tsu’s Tao Te Ching.

Carved from a single piece of dense wood, a lacquer coat was applied over polychrome hues and gilt visible at the collar, ears and forehead. The back cavity is sealed with its bung encasing its contents indicates it was consecrated. Likely originally placed in an elegant home shrine or temple setting.