W90xD60xH200mm, China
A figurine of a boy dressed in a du dou, a long life locklet and lifting a bowl on top of him. The bowl is the oil container for the oil lamp while the boy being the stand. The name of the lamp, “Boy Raising A Lamp” (童子舉燈) signified however, the lamp is referring only to the container itself. This is a popular theme for Chinese oil lamp, of different material and for pottery different kilns. This figurine is an example of the Ci Zhou kiln. The name 童子舉燈 “Tong Zi Ju Deng” is taken as a blessing for the child of the family, the first three words 童子舉 is a name for a official tang dynasty exam for the gifted child of under 10 years of age, while the word 燈 “deng” is a homonym to the word 登”deng” meaning ascend, achieved.
Mountain Folkcraft 