‘ZHENMUSHOU’, TOMB PROTECTIVE CREATURE ON A HIGH BASE

Description The zhenmushou crouches in a rigid frontal posture on a broad, irregular quadrangular plinth: shaped to resemble a rock, it is a third of the height of the entire statuette and is painted black. The creature has a fleshy, heavily deformed human face: round, bulging eyes, a broad, flattened nose, and a mouth clenched in a grunt. At the apex of the head stands a very tall wavy conical horn painted black. The ears are also disproportionately large: they rise arched and striated towards the horn, with a funnel shape. A decoration of engraved stripes painted black also characterizes the open, lanceolate wings, which rise frontally from the shoulders. Horn, ears and wings create a sort of “crown” for the creature itself.