Carved from a dense knot of boxwood root, this seated figure likely represents Li Tai Guai, generally reckoned the oldest and most senior of the Eight Immortals in Daoist legend. He's an unusual choice of hero by most standards — traditionally depicted not as a serene sage but as a lame beggar, carrying the double gourd that has become his signature attribute. The gourd does a lot of narrative work: it wards off evil, symbolises longevity, and dispenses medicine to the poor and the sick, with a wisp of cloud rising from its mouth said to represent Li's own soul drifting free of his body.
Boxwood root was a favoured material for exactly this kind of fine figural carving, prized for a tight grain that holds crisp detail far better than softer woods, and for the irregular, knotted forms of the root itself, which carvers often worked with rather than against — letting a burl or twist in the wood suggest drapery or a hunched shoulder before a single tool touched it. Li's status as patron of the down-and-out gives the piece a bit of unexpected warmth for an immortal: the one member of the Eight who looks like he's had a harder life than the people asking for his help, which is rather the point.
Condition notes
Good antique condition. Hairline cracks to body and minor scratches appropriate to age and use.
