A very fine soapstone figure of the Immortal Lan Caihe


17th/18th centurySkilfully carved, holding a woven basket of flowers, wearing a richly incised layered robe tied at the waist suspending a jade pendant, and with an animal-skin-like cape worn around the shoulder and a ruyi necklace, her face with delicate features and her hair painted in black drawn up behind a tiara with long ends that trail down onto the back and with flowers in the tiara, traces of golden pigment. 22.5cm (8 6/7in) high.
|十七/十八世紀 壽山石藍采和執花籃立像This figure depicts Lan Caihe, one of the Eight Immortals, who is associated with the attribute of a basket of flowers. A genderless character in Daoist stories, Lan Caihe, however, is usually depicted as a female figure similar to Guanyin from the Qing dynasty onwards. Compare with a soapstone figure of Guanyin, sold at Sotheby's Hong Kong, 24-25 November 2014, lot 1202.