A GILT-BRONZE FIGURE OF A SEATED DEITY MING DYNASTY, CHONGZHEN PERIOD, IN ACCORDANCE TO 1637

the deity, possibly Wenchang, seated in a reverential pose his joined hands holding a hu tablet, wearing a long plaited robe finely hemmed with incised five-clawed dragons and a black circular miter crested with dotted jagged rocks flanked by two disks, his face detailed with fine features portrayed in a meditative expression, with slender downcast eyes below deeply furrowed brows, a straight nose and crisply defined lips sealed above his black wispy beard, further framed by trimmed hair extending in two long strands over his pendulous earlobes and cords issuing from his crown looping to form a tasseled torque on his chest, a scarf further knotted at the navel and curling toward the floor, the reverse inscribed with the characters da ming Chongzhen shi nian Shanxi, Wang You(?)xian, Pingyang fu ren cheng zao (‘Wang You[?]xian, respectfully made by the people of the Pingyang county in Shanxi in the 10th year during the Chongzhen period of the great Ming,’ corresponding to 1637)

The dynamic rendering of this piece, captured in the stern yet serene facial expression and the crisp folds of the drapery, suggest that he is a powerful figure and is most likely to be that of Wenchang, the God of Literature. One of the most popular gods in late imperial China, he was first worshipped as a snake god known as ‘the Viper’ in Sichuan during the Six Dynasties period before rising in prominence and worshipped as part of the imperial cult by the Tang dynasty. From the Song dynasty onward Wenchang revealed himself in anthropomorphic form as a Daoist god and widely worshipped by the literati, particularly by candidates in the civil service examinations. He was also venerated for his powers of healing and exorcism.

A closely related figure of slightly larger size was sold in these rooms, 8^th October 2006, lot 1156. Compare also figures of this type, but portrayed with a benevolent facial expression, such as a large example sold in our New York rooms, 27^th March 2003, lot 15; a smaller figure sold in our London rooms, 30^th October 1987, lot 416; and a third, from the collection of Emil Hultmark, also sold in our London rooms, 16^th May 2012, lot 229, together with a figure possibly depicting Yuanshi Tianzun (Celestial Worthy of Primordial Beginning).