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Eloge de l'Art par Alain Truong
24 mai 2009

A fine ivory figure of Kui xing. Ming Dynasty, 16th/17th century

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A fine ivory figure of Kui xing. Ming Dynasty, 16th/17th century

The stellar God, patron deity of those taking jinshi examinations, skilfully carved in a dynamic position capturing the movement of the body turned backwards with the left leg raised and the right standing on crashing waves reaching over his shoulders, the right hand held high and the left holding an inkcake moulded as an ingot, the horned head with bushy eyebrows, bulging eyes and open mouth revealing fangs, wearing a shirt tied at the chest revealing the emaciated body and pantaloons tied at the waist with a ribbon freely flowing over the waves, below the celestial scarf blowing in the wind, wood stand. 13.5cm (5¼in) high. (2). Sold for £15,600

Note: Compare a related ivory figure of Kui xing, dated to the late Ming Dynasty, illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum. Bamboo, Wood, Ivory and Rhinoceros Horn Carvings, Hong Kong, 2002, Catalogue no.107. For another related ivory figure of Kui xing, dated Ming Dynasty 1580-1644, see the Exhibition Catalogue of the Oriental Ceramic Society and the British Museum, Chinese Ivories from the Shang to the Qing, London, 1984, Catalogue no.107, where it is noted that the image of Kui xing is drawn from star-mysticism, astronomy, the world of imps and demons and calligraphy. The character kui is the name of an asterism in the Northern Dipper and is made up of the character for demon (gui) and for a dipper, or bushel measure (dou). The posture of the demon (as exemplified in the present lot) imitates the form of the gui character, and the vessel the Immortal is holding, in this case ingot shaped inkcake, are a pictorial pun. The kui asterism is twinned with Wen Chang, the Daoist God of Literature.

Another Ming Dynasty example is illustrated by S.E.Lucas, The Catalogue of Sassoon Chinese Ivories, vol.1, London, 1950, Catalogue no.166, where the author notes that according to legend it was customary for the Emperor to reward the jinshi examinations first ranked candidate with a golden rose; however, on one occasion the Emperor declined to hand the gift to the scholar because of his repulsive features. The scholar, named Kui, who felt humiliated threw himself into the river but was saved by a mythical monster, Ao, bringing him back to the surface. Kui then ascended to the Polar region, Northern part of the Great Bear, and became the stellar patron of the literati. Kui xing is often shown holding a writing brush riding a carp-dragon, alluding to the myth that a carp who leaps the dragon gate in Henan province is transformed into a dragon, an allegory for success in the Imperial jinshi examinations.

Bonhams. Fine Chinese Art, 14 May 2009. New Bond Street www.bonhams.com

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