A well carved Chinese hardwood figure group depicting a plump traditionally dressed Chinese man seated on a rocky shelf laughing and happily teasing and feeding a coin to a mythical creature. This carving has been cleverly worked using the natural light and dark grain in the block of hardwood for Different parts of the figure group. The figures are mostly in the lighter wood and the rocky base shelf and his robe which mainly hangs to his sides and back are in the darker grained timber. This would have taken great skill to work out the positioning before starting to carve the group. His teeth have been carved and inlaid in bone. This piece is in good condition. There are a few very minor shrinkage cracks. It has a nicely polished patination and is signed on the underside with Chinese character marks. Circa 1900Robert Belcher Antiques was established in 1984 and is a high-quality retailer of interesting, rare antiques and decorative objects. After forty years of shop keeping and...