Figure, F58.22

Figurine of Shou Lao, Taoist god of longevity. Carved from a heavy dark brown-black wood (ebony). Shou-lao is depicted as an old man with a long beard and a bald head with an enlarged forehead. The eyes and teeth have been inlaid with ivory (?). He is dressed in a long flowing robe with various designs on it inlaid in brass wire. In his left hand he holds a hollow peach symbol of eternal life and in his right hand a staff with a gourd attached which is the symbol of the elixir of life.

Locality: China