†A CHINESE BAMBOO CARVING OF DONGFANG SHUO

†A CHINESE BAMBOO CARVING OF DONGFANG SHUO
18TH CENTURY

The smiling God sits comfortably on rocks, his hair tied in a top knot, he wears flowing robes and holds a peach of Immortality, 17cm.

Dongfang Shuo was a Han dynasty scholar official, author and court jester to Emperor Wu, in Chinese mythology he is a Daoist Immortal.

Cf. I Yee and L Tam, Chinese Bamboo Carving, part 1, Hong Kong Museum of Art, pp.380-381, for a similar figure of Dongfang Shuo.

清十八世紀 竹雕東方朔坐像