Some pieces you unwrap and set aside. This one stopped me where I stood.
It’s a large carved wall panel of Guan Yu — the Han-dynasty general who was later raised to a god: the Chinese deity of war, loyalty, and protection. You’ll find him watching over shops, studies, and family homes the world over, and it’s easy to see why. Here he rides in full armour, halberd across his back, that unmistakable flowing beard reaching down his chest, with a red sun and rolling clouds rising behind him.
The carving is the thing to slow down for. Look closely and it’s all there: every strand of the horse’s mane, the little buckles worked into the bridle, the Greek-key border running along the saddle, the blue-set eye, and cloud curling over cloud in deep, stacked layers. At its boldest, the relief stands a full three inches off the board.
Now, the honest part — because that’s how we do things here. This isn’t one solid slab carved down into itself; it’s carved relief, applied to a dark backing board within a carved frame. You can see it if you look where the pale honey-toned carving meets the near-black ground: the two woods meet at a seam, the dark dye lapping up to the edge of each cut piece. That construction is the common one for these big export panels, and it places him in the 20th century — not an antique, but a genuinely well-carved decorative piece with real craft in it. The mane, the beard, the layered clouds: that’s a capable hand at work, not a stamped-out plaque.
He carries his age honestly — a little checking in the wood, some wear to the dark finish, and a couple of tiny nicks at the finest carved tips, which is exactly where a piece like this earns its character.
At better than three and a half feet tall, he is not a shy object. This is a statement — the kind of thing that anchors a wall and starts a conversation. Photographs genuinely don’t catch the depth of him; he wants to be seen in person.
He’s here in the shop. Come and meet him, or message / call 778-708-0454 to hold him.
Leslie
778-708-0454
The Pound & the Provenance
7791 Steveston Highway
(northwest corner of No. 3 Road and Steveston Highway)
Richmond, BC, Canada
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.
