A BAMBOO-ROOT FIGURE OF BUDAI QING DYNASTY, 18TH CENTURY

finely carved in the round as a seated Budai grinning with his head tilted slightly upwards and leaning against a cloth bag behind him, depicted draped in a robe falling loosely around his body exposing his upper torso, his right hand placed on the cloth bag and his left hand resting on his left knee whilst holding rosary beads

Gerard Hawthorn Ltd., London.

Oriental Works of Art, Gerard Hawthorn Ltd., London, 2000, cat. no. 92.

The bold carving style on the current figure is closely reminiscent of a bamboo figure of Budai carved by the Court carved Feng Xilu, preserved in the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in Bamboo, Wood, Ivory and Rhinoceros Horn Carvings. The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum, Hong Kong, 2002, pl. 28. Both figures share several distinct characteristics, including the dynamic rendering of their facial expressions, with pronounced eyes carved in the round amidst rounded forehead and swollen cheeks, and similar depiction of the drapery on the robes. For a smaller bamboo-root figure of Budai, see lot 3001.