Vintage Tree Root Sculpture With Birds and Monkeys

This fabulous tree trunk and root sculpture has many interesting stories to tell, but I think I would talk about its provenance. It came to me over 20 years ago from a dealer in Texas who has connections with one of the more important antique dealers in Beijing. It is an unknown fact to the general public that Chinese Muslim dealers dominated the antique trade in China, even as far back as the Qing Dynasty and beyond. The change in political climate necessitated the move to Hong Kong. However, many remained in Beijing and still have access to high quality goods through their connections to artisans whose produce superior art work. This is a fine example of high quality wood carving where a tree with two trunks and complicated root structure became an object of art through hours of polishing, carving with attention to details so birds and animals appear lifelike. The artist sculptor had envisioned a composition whereby protruding roots do not appear obtrusive as they blend into the whole, regardless which angle the tree sculpture is viewed. Unlike the stiff upright style of Chinese sculptures that continued on to the early Chinese Republic, this later sculpture exudes the freedom felt in modern pieces. There is an energy that flows through the tree sculpture that cannot be found in earlier works.
As the sculpture displays his artistic freedom, he has not strayed away in the tradition iconography of auspicious symbols. The theme of Monkeys stealing Peaches harks back to a chapter from the famous novel “Journey to the West,” whereby the Monkey King disrupted the Queen Mother of the West’s birthday party by stealing her longevity peaches. Birds, some of them Magpies, are harbingers of happiness, and the pomegranates with myriads of seeds symbolize fertility.

Moving this sculpture requires some ingenuity. It has been moved many times since it came into my collection. The best method appears to be anchoring it on a large piece of wood which then can be placed on a four wheel mover.