A CHINESE BRONZE FIGURE OF KUI XING MING DYNASTY Shown as a demon wearing an apron with ribbons

A CHINESE BRONZE FIGURE OF KUI XING MING DYNASTY Shown as a demon wearing an apron with ribbons, his right foot balanced on the head of an Ao, his left foot supporting a ladle, with a writing brush in his right hand and an ingot in the left, all raised on a rectangular base, 30cm, 1kg. Provenance: from the collection of Professor Peter H Plesch and Mrs Traudi Plesch OBE and thence by descent, collection no.Bs30, purchased from A Förster, Vienna in 1959 for 780 shillings. Cf. R Kerr, Later Chinese Bronzes, pp.82-84 no.67 for a comparable bronze figure. The deity Kui Xing is a patron of scholars sitting the official imperial examinations and also of aspiring poets. His pose is a pun on the proverb 'to stand lonely on the Ao's head', referring to coming first in examinations.