Pêcheur à la carpe - période République - Stone - China

Carpenter Fisherman under Umbrella
Republican period, first half of the 20th century
China
Carved stone
Dimensions: 20 × 7 × 5.5 cm
Weight: approx. 600 g

Elegant Chinese stone sculpture portraying an elderly fisherman, depicted standing in a lively and smiling posture, carrying his gear on the shoulder and presenting a large carp suspended from his line. The work belongs to this popular Chinese iconography in which the fisherman, a figure removed from worldly concerns, is associated with a simple, free, and harmonious existence with nature.

The figure is treated with remarkable attention to expression. His face, with strongly individualized features, is animated by large arched eyes, prominent cheekbones, and a broad smile. A long mustache extends to a carefully striped, tapered beard, while the hair is gathered on top of the head. This deliberately expressive physiognomy gives the figure a particularly jovial presence. The fisherman wears a loose robe with many deeply sculpted folds. A long rod runs vertically through the composition, while a carp is suspended in front of the body. Its scales, fins, and bifurcated tail are delineated by incisions. Beside him sits a cylindrical fishing basket, its surface worked to evoke a braided wicker pattern.
At the back, a circular rain hat, whose entire surface is covered by a spectacular radiating network of incised lines. The motif, organized in a spiral from the center, effectively reproduces the structure of a fiber basket woven object. The whole array of accessories, fish, basket, rod, bundle, and umbrella greatly enriches the silhouette and allows the sculptor to multiply textures.

The stone presents a beautiful beige to ochre-yellow tone, naturally interspersed with darker shades, gray and black inclusions, and visible mineral variations. The sculpture rests on an independent red-brown stone base, fully carved and pierced to imitate a Chinese wooden base. This chromatic contrast between the light figure and the reddish-brown base strongly contributes to the presentation of the whole.

Condition: generally good given the age and the nature of the material. Signs of use, scratches, small chips, and minor surface irregularities are visible, along with inclusions and variations characteristic of the stone. A hole at the top of the sculpture likely served as housing for a detachable element, presumably the end of a rod or staff connected to the fisherman's equipment.