Krigsherren avbildad sittande på en klippformation med den ena handen höjd i en avfärdande gest, medan en orm och en sköldpadda tittar fram ur klippan nedan honom. Höjd 23,5 cm.
Lagning vid hand och djurets huvud.
Property of a private collector.
Purchased at Lawrence Auctioneers of Crewkerne, Somerset, 3 November 2005, lot no 624.
Compare, an example of this model in the Metropolitan Museum, New York, credit line: Purchase by subscription, 1879. Object Number: 79.2.481.
Compare also one in the Virginia Museum of Fine Art.
John Ayers, Blanc de Chine, Divine Images in Porcelain, China Institute Gallery, New York, 2002, Item no 41. Page 90
Donnelly, 1969. Pl 101A.
Kerr and Ayers, 2002, No. 26.
Zhenwu is sometimes reffered to as 'Perfect Warrior, Dark Lord of the Northern Quadrant'.
Legend has it that Zhengwu was successful in defeating the demon kings despite the intervention of a snake and tortoise (which normally appear when he is depicted). He was thus accorded the titels of both 'first Lord of the Highest Heaven' and 'Perfected Warrior'. He subsequently became one of the most popular Daoist deities in small-scale devotional sculpture. A temple to honour him was built at the norhernmost point of the Forbidden City.
His role as a guardian reflects his association with the north, the direction from which China was constantly threatened by neighboring peoples from Central Asia.