Standing porcelain figurine of Li Shizhen 李時珍, 1950-1988?
Scope and Contents
The porcelain figurine is a depiction of the famous Chinese herbist Li Shizhen 李時珍 (1518-1593). Li wears a white robe and a black hat engraved with a pearl, while standing on a blue rock. He holds a type of herb in his right hand and a hoe in his left. The hoe is entirely made from bamboo and painted black, white and brown. The bottom of the statue has the maker's stamp '廣州人民美術社' (The People's Art Institute of Guangzhou).
Dates
- Creation: 1950-1988?
Biographical / Historical
Li Shizhen 李時珍 (1518-1593) was the author of the voluminous compendium of materia medica Ben cao gang mu 本草綱目 (printed in 1596). Guangzhou ren min mei shu she 廣州人民美術社 (the People's Art Institute of Guangzhou) was founded in 1950, with many different factories under its sculpture division. The factories are no longer owned by the Institute after its separation into the current Shiwan Arts and Ceramics Factory 石灣美術陶瓷廠. The sculpture division was also split from the Institute in 1988 and became The Guangzhou Sculpture Institute 廣州雕塑院.
Extent
1 object(s) : Porcelain and bamboo
Language of Materials
Chinese
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Bought by, or given to, Joseph Needham during one of his visits to China between 1958 and 1986.
Dimensions
Height 38.4cm, Length: 10.5cm, Width 13.8cm.
Date information
The figurine was made during the active years of the Porcelain Division of The People's Art Institute of Guangzhou.
Repository Details
Part of the Needham Research Institute Repository
Needham Research Institute
8 Sylvester Road
Cambridge CB3 9AF United Kingdom
+441223 762157
Library@nri.cam.ac.uk