This
intricate piece exemplifies Chinese carvings both in style and technical mastery.
Small projecting forms and a multitude of undercuts and many-petaled flowers attest
to the skill of the artist. This highly ornamented and exquisitely carved ivory
portraying the celestial immortal who, having offended her father by falling in
love with a cowboy, was sent back to heaven, from where she was allowed to visit
her lover only once a year. She lives in a celestial abode and walks on clouds
of flowers, strewing abundant blossoms down toward the earth and her lover. The
carving, so delicate and complicated, creates a sense of fragility; the lissome
girl is graced with charm and loveliness. Her smoothly polished face expresses
youth and sweetness gathered up into a single form and frosted with pearly beauty.
Of
the fine details, most impressive are the lush carving of roses and other flowers,
the texture of the straw flower basket, the bird of paradise, the elegant layered
and gathered hair, the fluttering edges of the gown and the fringed scarf. The
base is carved of spiraling clouds rising to meet the masses of flowers that float
and fall, effortlessly defying gravity like the flying scarves that billow and
furl around the figure. --RW
