A RARE GILT-BRONZE FIGURE OF SUN SIMIAO 18th centuryA RARE GILT-BRONZE FIGURE OF SUN SIMIAO18th centuryExpertly cast as a bearded scholar seated on rockwork holding an ewer in his left hand, his right hand slightly raised towards his beard, the face with a contemplative expression beneath a chignon, clad in long flowing robes and carrying a case on his back, by his left foot a small tiger with stripes, the base sealed. 9.5cm (3 1/2in) high.Please note this Lot is to be sold at No Reserve. 本拍品不設底價十八世紀 銅鎏金孫思邈坐像The present figure appears to be a rare portrayal of Sun Simiao (孫思邈 581-682), a physician of the Sui/early Tang dynasties, reputed to have served the Tang Emperor Taizong (598-649). He is regularly portrayed holding a double-gourd containing medicine and beside a tiger. Sun Simiao was acclaimed for his significant contribution to the development of Chinese medicine, in particular the compilation of the Beiji Qianjin Yaofang (備急千金要方), the first medical encyclopaedia in China, compiled in 652. He was later deified in the Daoist pantheon, revered as the King of Medicine and as a protective guardian of health in Chinese popular religion.Compare with a related small gilt-bronze figure of Guanyin, 18th century, in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, (acc.no.48.30.5).