A BAMBOO FIGURE OF A TOAD

QING DYNASTY, 18TH CENTURY

LENGTH: 6CM

The amphibian is depicted crouching on four webbed feet, well modelled with wrinkled skin, bulging eyes and a wide mouth. The bamboo is patinated to a caramel-brown tone.

SIMILAR EXAMPLES

A frog from the Dr. Ip Yee collection, signed Zhu Ying (Ming dynasty) and with similar rendering of the amphibian’s bulging eyes, is published in Bamboo Carving of China, 1983, p. 64, Catalogue No. 2. Compare also another example from the Wang Shixiang (1914-2009) collection, published in ibid., Catalogue No. 21.

清十八世紀      竹雕臥蟾