A CHINESE WHITE JADE CARVING OF SHOULAO

A CHINESE WHITE JADE CARVING OF SHOULAO
18TH CENTURY

The God of Longevity stands dressed in loose layered robes, he holds a large openwork flowering prunus branch over his right shoulder and stems of lingzhi in his left hand, the deity typically depicted with a high cranium and a long incised beard, his finely detailed face bearing a cheerful expression, with a crane perched on one leg standing at his feet, the pale stone with russet markings, 12.1cm.

Provenance: the Lawrence Collection of jades and hardstone carvings, purchased from the Oriental Art Gallery Ltd., 1994.

Published: the Oriental Art Gallery Exhibition Catalogue, 7th June 1994, no.42.

The attributes identify the old man as Shoulao, the God of Longevity. Shoulao the Immortal was originally a Daoist deity. The legend is probably based on an actual person who lived during the Song dynasty, but also came to be considered as the personification of the southern polar star. In folk religion, Shoulao is a very popular God of Good Luck and Longevity. In pictorial art, he is represented as an old man with a wide forehead, holding a lingzhi fungus in his hand, and accompanied by a crane, sometimes a black deer or a tortoise.

十八世紀 白玉雕壽老

來源：勞倫斯珍藏玉石，1994年購於Oriental Art Gallery Ltd。

出版：Oriental Art Gallery 展覽圖錄，1994年6月7日，編號42。