God of Wealth

Rendered in meticulous heavy color, the God of Wealth stands frontally on a luminous white ground, crimson and gold in concert, holding a ruyi and a dish heaped with ingots while a treasure basin at his feet gathers the radiance of good fortune.

Fine-line drawing and layered heavy color with touches of gilding set cinnabar reds, golds and celadon greens aglow against generous white space, giving the figure a lucid, solemn sheen. A strict frontal symmetry is enriched by the jeweled headdress, cloud-and-wave motifs and key patterns, as the rhythms of drapery and ornament interlock. A dish piled with ingots in the left hand and a ruyi in the right are answered by the large “Treasure Basin” below; auspicious clouds and floral–fruit ornaments punctuate the scene to create a full yet unboisterous festive aura. The calm, faintly smiling gaze balances abundance with ceremony, while calligraphy and vermilion seals above punctuate the space and heighten the figure’s vertical poise.

Category

Figure · Color

Year

1992