Chinese Bone and Coral Set

This glamorous 4 piece set celebrates one of the Daoist 8 Immortals, He Xiangu, the patron deity of housewives.

[click on images to enlarge .... photos by: RidgewoodEntrust]

There are many differing stories of He-Xiangu and how she became an Immortal... that she was attacked by a demon and rescued by Lü Yan (Lü Dòngbin) ...or that Lü Dòngbin fell in love with her and brought her to join the Immortals. Author Richard Wilhelm was told; that she had sworn never to marry and one day when she was cooking rice, Lü Dòngbin came and released her and she joined the Immortals still holding the ladle in her hand.

Clearly made for a prosperous housewife...the carved plaques are tea stained ivory or bone (difficult to tell), surrounded by coral and set in vermeil...filigree flowers and clouds...with coral good fortune symbols.

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