18th C. Chinese Wood Daoist Deity Figure, Oxblood Lacquer

East Asia, China, Qing Dynasty. A carved wood figure of a seated Daoist deity, finished in oxblood lacquer across the folds of a high-collared robe. The figure is seated in a formal posture atop a plain plinth, feet resting on a low footrest, with the face inclined slightly beneath a carved, lotus-crowned high hat. The hands cradle a ceremonial attribute, possibly a ruyi scepter or related ritual implement, in a gesture associated with blessing and authority. The pigmented surface shows craquelure consistent with age. Figures of this type were placed in temple halls or family shrines, where they were understood to protect devotees, guide rituals, and offer spiritual counsel. The figure represents a Daoshi, a Daoist master, priest, and ritual specialist. The term "Daoshi," literally "master of the Tao," designates the ordained priests and adepts of religious Daoism, who served their communities as ritual specialists, healers, and interpreters of the cosmic order. During the Ming and Qing dynasties, such figures were commonly rendered in the guise of dignified officials and scholars, their high hats and formal robes signaling rank within the celestial bureaucracy that Daoist cosmology mirrored on earth. The precise identity of an individual deity, drawn from the vast Daoist pantheon of star-lords, immortals, and deified sages, is often difficult to fix once a statue has been separated from its altar and inscriptions, but the type belongs firmly to the devotional sculpture that furnished temples and prosperous household shrines across late imperial China. Item # 192278

Estimate:£2,270.23

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