Lot description
AN IMPORTANT MASSIVE IMPERIAL GILT COPPER-ALLOY FIGURE OF LONGNÜ Yuyongjian gong zao mark, cyclically dated to the Xinsi year of Chongzhen, corresponding to 1641 and of the period The imposing standing figure of the female deity with serene expression, looking ahead with eyes downcast, the mouth picked out in red, with pendulous ears, the black hair pulled back into double-loops, wearing a headdress formed of two gilt buns connected with a ruyi tiara, holding aloft on a presentation cloth a quatralobed offering dish supporting a pearl, wearing long flowing robes flowing to each side exquisitely incised along the hems with a foliate scrolling lotus border, the chest with a large raised ruyi enclosing a lotus blossom below the the necklace with a rectangular pendant and neck collar, with long variously incised stippled-ground hu shaped ribbons enclosing floral cartouches, with cloud-shaped shoes extending from underneath the robes, the back robe with further ruyi-shaped adornments below the shoulders, with a belt above the superbly adorned lower section with further pleats finely incised with dense cloud scrolls, all raised on the double lotus pedestal, with each lower lappet incised with a lotus blossom and each upper one with upright sprays, the fourteen character mark incised in double lines atop the pedestal in front of the figure, all richly gilt. 111cm (43 11/16in) high
