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The origins of Nuo Opera, performed in provincial villages in Southern China since antiquity, is found in spirit and ancestor worship and Taoism. Performances use a few dozen to 200 masks having distinctive facial features, decorations, regional and ethnic individuality and aesthetic diversity. Usually carved from poplar or willow which are light and less likely…
This amusing antique Nuo Opera mask portrays Tudi Gong, the benevolent Earth god with a smiling animated face, long eyebrows, a hemp beard and large ears wearing a high decorative hat. Tudi is a zhengshen, a god who is kindly, honest with a gentle disposition, symbolizing the great power of good, through which evil can be defeated. Nuo was popular during the Ming and Qing dynasties and although they are still performed in rural areas, there are few remaining troupes.
This ancestor statue emphasizes his status as an official. official’s pose holding us his belt of office, official’s hat and boots, worn only by those who could afford them. high on his forehead which also represents his officialdom, as the word “hat” (guan) is a homophone of the word “official.” The inscriptions on the back of the chair which are too faded to read indicate it was consecrated and probably were a dedication from the family who commissioned it to placed on the home altar.
This carved ancestor figure portrayed as an official sits on a backless chair with a decorative pedestal in official’s attire: a high collared red robe, double belt above and below his ample stomach and holding a long slender curved hu-tablet, all signs of his office and status. He is vibrantly painted in red, the color of fu, as a wish for prosperity and status.
This excellently carved civilian official with gilt highlights was commissioned by a family to place on a home altar for veneration and to impress those who viewed it. The imposing ancestor figure grasps his belt of office to show his pride in passing examinations to become a civil official, which leads to a life of rank and prosperity for him and his family. Statues like this are an affirmation of persistence, success, status and power and they honor those who display these characteristics.
Rare and charming carved attendant pair to flank deities on circular pedestals presenting boxed offerings with ribbons as wish for longevity.
The pair of antique oil lamps was meant to bring good luck and happiness decorated on top with a double lozenge, a diamond shaped symbol is a lucky object that is a protective sign casting out demons and means “many treasures.” The five leaves are plum blossoms, symbols of perseverance and purity, and the Five Blessings or Happinesses – wealth, health, longevity, a peaceful death and the love of virtue As an oil lamp it was used with a wick hanging over the side.
The peacock is very significant in Buddhism, especially the Theravada Buddhism practiced in Burma. It is one of 108 images on the Buddha’s footprint and reflects the short-lived nature of all things, since it appears and vanishes as swiftly as it displays and furls its tail. It is believed that peacocks can eat poisonous plants…
Known as the Laughing, Happy, or Fat Buddha, Budai is regarded as a deity of contentment and plenty. Like most Early Chinese Republic porcelains this piece is hand decorated in famille rose enamels with vivid blue, red, and green pigments portrayed as a stout, smiling, bald monk in robes with a large, exposed pot belly surrounded by five children. Since the stomach is considered the seat of the soul in Chinese beliefs, it demonstrates his open heartedness. His wide smile attracts the children surrounding his body indicating his regard for them and his joy when they encircle him and well as the belief he can bequeath families with children.
One of a pair of antique low tables on 3 folding bamboo-shaped leg supports, this traveling prayer/study table was designed for Tibetan monks or nomadic families to lay out sutras (scriptures), scrolls, books and other study materials and by Tibetan devotees as a personal altar/prayer table. It is simply decorated with painted florals on vines and a fruit offering bowl symbolizing the flowering of enlightenment and opening of the heart.
Provincial carving with iconic phoenix headdress, hands in karana mudra to cast out demons, negative energy and purify spaces. Image was on home altar and consecrated with a sealed cover.
Rare Queen Mother on horseback symbolize harmony with nature, magnificent headdress with phoenix, holds elixir of immortality cup granting eternal life.
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