The Long Beard and the Great Fan

Viewing notes

A viewer's written impression — not a buyer review or first-hand record

This wood-toned elder sits enthroned with a long beard and a great fan. His white hair is bound on top, the beard falls to his chest, and the eyes look out keen and steady from a throne chair whose armrests end in dragon heads. The right hand raises a large fan carved with cloud scrolls; the left rests calmly in the lap. His wide robe is finely patterned at collar and belt, and the panel hanging between his knees carries rows of trigram-like motifs with a small dragon coiled at its centre. A round halo ringed with dragons and flaming pearls rises behind him, crowned by a canopy with phoenixes spreading their wings at either side, and the throne stands on a broad three-tiered base edged with floral scrolls. Warm wood throughout, every strand of beard and fold of cloth distinct — dignified yet at ease, a piece for a shrine, a study or a hall that needs a commanding presence.