A CHINESE LACQUERED GILT-BRONZE FIGURE OF TIANGUAN

16TH/17TH CENTURY

The heavenly official sits wearing a tall hat and holding a hu tablet before him, bearing a stern expression on his face which is framed by his elongated earlobes, his long flowing robes decorated with gilt and red lacquer and incised with swirling designs, the face and hands picked out in gilt, together with a wood stand, 36.8cm, 4.7kg. (2)

Tianguan is one of the Three Officials of Daoism, along with Diguan and Shuiguan.

Provenance: formerly a French private collection, Val de Loire.