A large bamboo figure of Shoulao. 17th/18th century

The god of Longevity holding a stem of lingzhi in his left hand and in his right hand a gnarled staff surmounted by a bat and hung with a double gourd, wearing long belted robes hung with a trailing brocade sash in front and back, his shoes with ruyi-head toes, with long beard, his face well carved with smiling expression below his domed head where the hair in back is gathered behind a small cloth cap hung with long trailing tabs.
12¾ in. (32.4 cm.) high, zitan stand, box. Estimate: $50,000 - $70,000

Notes: Shoulao, the god of Longevity, was a popular and auspicious subject for bamboo carvings, and was usually shown holding one or more of his attributes, as here. A similarly large standing figure of the Star God, in the National Palace Museum, Taiwan, is illustrated in Auspicious Ju-I Scepters of China, Taipei, 1995, p. 178, no. 103. As with the present figure, the National Palace Museum figure, shown with several boys, holds a gnarled staff hung with a scroll in the right hand, but a peach, rather than a ruyi scepter, in the left hand. Both figures have an equally long beard and tall rounded forehead, the other distinguishing features of Shoulao.

Christie's. Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art. 17 September 2008. New York, Rockefeller Plaza. www.christies.com