The beautiful brass image of the Chinese God of Longevity has been nicely carved out with a greater sense of refinement and gracefulness. The figure depicts a detail description of traditional long life deity. His name means ‘star of long life’. Old and bald, he always carries a Golden Peach of Immortality from XI-WANGMU's Holy Peach Garden. These are found only in Heaven and ripen once every three thousand years.

His long life came about by quite different means. Once he was a young and sickly lad named Zhao-Yen, who was destined to die when he reached 19. Told by a fortune-teller to enter a certain field armed with a packed lunch, he found two men playing checkers.

Having been warned to keep his mouth shut, he silently offered them spring rolls and wine. These were gratefully accepted. These two men were, in fact, the Gods of Birth and Death and they offered him longevity.

First they took his allotted life span of 19 years and reversed it, giving 91 years. Then they munched another spring roll, had another sip of wine, and decided he deserved immortality. That must have been a very impressive packed lunch.  

The figure is full of life and enthusiasm and a piece of sculptural excellence.