A wood head of a Louhan

Yuan dynasty,
 14th century AD,
China
Height: 15 3/4in / 40cm

The louhan's benign expression is captured with a half smiling mouth, fleshy cheeks and a kindly,concentrated look in the eyes - above which, at the centre of the forehead, is a raised urna. The hollow carved head, neck and collar terminate in an octagonal, plain sided, wedge shaped base - as if intended to slot into the main body of a sculpture. The wood is covered with a coarse cloth - a characteristic of late Song and Yuan wood sculpture; it was used as a medium for attaching the painted gesso surface (now worn away).