Page 217 - China's Renaissance in Bronze, The Robert H.CIague Collection of Later Chinese Bronzes 1100-1900

HIS POWERFUL SCULPTURE depicts a standing, stern-faced military
figure clad in chain mail armor. His face set in a grimace, his lips parted
Tto reveal teeth and fangs, the figure stares out at the viewer with
bulging eyes under heavy eyebrows, the fangs attesting to his celestial rank.
He wears a short robe over his knee-length armor, which is edged with fur
along the bottom; a wealth of scarves and sashes, some festively tied in
bows, further attests to his celestial rank. His feet planted in a firm stance,
the figure extends his left hand but holds his right one tensely at his side.
A slant-topped, cylindrical cap ornamented with a blossom conceals his
hair, except for two horn-like wisps that appear above the ears. Tall, ruyi-
toed boots shield his feet, the tenons on their heels once anchoring the
figure to a bronze base, now lost and replaced by a wooden one carved in
the form of scrolling clouds. Inscribed with eight intaglio characters, a
round-topped rectangular plaque appears at the figure's waist, neatly tied
with a tasseled cord to a narrow jade disk that is itself suspended from a silk
sash draped over his shoulder. 1
In standard-script (kaishu) characters, the inscription translates:
Exiting [and] entering [by the] golden gate,
Not restrained [by the] heavens above. 2

The inscription apparently does not identify the figure but suggests that
he is a deity, able to travel wherever he wishes without restraint. The refer-
ence to the heavens has generated speculation that the figure may have
3
been made as part of a set of Daoist astronomical deities; while not impos-
sible, such specific identification awaits further research. 4
Military figures clad in chain mail armor appear in the visual arts from
5
the Tang through the Qing, in painting, sculpture, 6 and woodblock prints. 7
Although they change slowly, depictions of armor evolve over time from the
simple to the more complex. With its tongue-like flap of fabric between the
legs, its windblown scarves and drapery edges, its numerous but seemingly
extraneous decorative elements, and its extensive cold working, this sculp-
ture bears some similarity to a cast bronze sculpture in the Field Museum
of Natural History, Chicago, that is dated by inscription to 1624 and that
represents Bishamen, one of the Sitianwang, or Four Heavenly Kings, per-
haps in his Daoist aspect as Moli Shou. 8

T H E R O B E R T II. C L A G U E C O L L E C T I O N 2 2 1