White Beard, Painted Fan

Viewing notes

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

This polychrome seated elder has a white beard and a red robe beneath a towering aureole. His white hair is bound in a topknot, the snow-white beard falling to his chest, his eyes lowered in untroubled calm. The great red robe is covered with golden dragons and clouds, its collar banded in gold layer upon layer; on the dark blue chest panel blooms a lotus motif, and the hems spread over his knees in waves. His raised right hand holds a broad painted fan, its face coiled with a dragon and dotted with a red pearl; his left hand pinches a small gold ring above a dark red cloud-shaped rest before him. Behind him the aureole rises high: a pointed-leaf frame carved all over in deep red foliage, an inner golden disc with radiating lines and floral accents, and a green lotus at its tip. The lotus throne steps down in teal-and-gold petals and a blue petal band to a round red base. Splendid yet serene — a dignified elder for a shrine, a study or a tea room.