A carved temple head of a crowned deity — most likely Guanyin — clad in worked buffalo horn over a carved wood core, with finely incised detail across the crown and a row of tiny meditating Buddhas set into the flaming lotus petals across the front. The face still carries its old polychrome, softened by age and a little smoke.
What makes this one a curiosity: it has small sealed compartments, still closed, that in temple figures like this often held consecration deposits — prayers, texts, grains. They’ve never been opened, and they’ll stay that way.
Around the base is a Chenghua reign mark (明成化年製). Such marks are almost always later homages to an admired era rather than a literal date — so it tells us the tradition the piece honours, not its birthday.
Honest age and honest wear — the horn cladding is lifting away in places where the old gesso bedding has let go over the years. We’re not cleaning or restoring it; it’s lovely as it is.
In-store in Richmond. Message or call to view — happy to walk you through it.
Leslie
778-708-0454
The Pound & the Provenance
7791 Steveston Highway
(northwest corner of No. 3 Road and Steveston Highway)
Richmond, BC, Canada
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Please Note: I am not an appraiser, a silversmith or a gemologist. I am an antiques dealer. A generalist with a love for things with a bit of age. I had a stroke, four years ago, and AI is helping me to do better than I would have. Nothing here is false, everything here is true. I hope you enjoy it and please leave a message.
Ref. no. 1077
TheMorningTomatoReport 