330.
A POLYCHROME ENAMELED AND GILT FIGURE OF ZHONGLI QUAN
Qing dynasty, Qianlong period, mid 18th century
38,5 cm high
Provenance: Naples, Villa della Floridiana, Museo Duca di Martina, Placido de Sangro (1829-1891) collection.
inv. n. 4150.
The standing figure wears a wide tunic with the large stomach bared, a long beard made with human hair, the face with a fierce expression, the eyes opened wide and the eyebrows corrugated, the anatomical details naturalistically rendered, the tunic with a fine gilt decoration of phoenixes amidst scrolls with lingzhi funguses on a coral red ground, the right hand originally probably holding a leaf fan.
A general lived during the Han dynasty who suffered a defeat against an expedition in Tibet, Zhongli Quan obtained the immortality while living in the mountains as a fugitive. The leader of the group of the Eight Immortals (baxian) of the Daoist tradition, he was able to revive the deaths using his fan.
