A BRONZE FIGURE OF ASCETIC LIU HAI AND THREE-LEGGED TOAD

Description:

China, Ming dynasty
H. 45,7 cm
Finely cast standing and holding the three-legged toad in his left hand. Clad in long flowing robes with his rotund belly exposed, all supported on a rocky plinth.
Collection of Prof. Dr Hermann Schröder (1902-1991), Aachen, and expanded by his family
Compare with a related gilt-bronze incense burner in the form of Liu Hai standing on his toad, 16th/17th century, illustrated by Sydney L.Moss Ltd., The Second Bronze Age: Later Chinese Metalwork, London, 1991, no.21, sSee also a bronze figure of Liu Hai, Ming dynasty, which was sold at Bonhams Paris, 26 October 2022, lot 293 - Slightly chipped