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A pair of large gilt lacquered wood deities
Ming/Qing dynastyBoth displaying fearsome expressions drilled for holes for now partially-lost facial hair, attired in elaborate headgear and armor adorned in dragon and cloud motifs and supporting substantial curls of floating tassels over the shoulders; the first holding a ring in his down-stretched left arm and holding a stave-like implement above him in his upheld right, the second supporting a large mallet in his upheld right hand while his left remains at waist level. 55 1/2in (141cm) height of taller figure exclusive of later wood stand and separately carved weapon
注脚
The mallet held by one figure is usually associated with the thunder god. That could indicate that these two deities are some of the Heavenly Marshals currently in the employ of the Ministry of Thunder. See the Yuan dynasty scroll in Stephen Little (et al.), Taoism and the Arts of China (Chicago: Art Institute of Chicago, 2000), pp. 237-239, no. 73, depicting Puhua Tianzun and his sprawling celestial bureaucracy for other examples of similarly attired figures, some holding a long staff-like weapon (elsewhere called a jiujie jinbian) similar to the other weapon in the present lot. Vernacular sculpture of this type has retained a remarkably consistent style over several hundred years. For a similar-sized statue dated to the Qing dynasty, see the figure identified as a Buddhist Celestial King offered in our New Bond Street sale, 9 November 2017, lot 226. See also the smaller figure of an Attendant Deity, dated as Ming dynasty, offered in Sotheby's, New York, 11/12 September 2012, lot 196. There are even notable decorative similarities to the decorative elements on the garments of a constellation god in the Yuhuang Temple in Jincheng, Shanxi, dated as Yuan in Angela Falco Howard et al., Chinese Sculpture (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2006), p. 424, no. 4.63.