Mythical Gilt Leigong Figure with Divine Steed

Lavishly pigmented and carved with intricate detail, this petite mythical figurine was originally from an ornate 19th-century bed surround depicting characters from the classic Chinese novel "Romance of the Three Kingdoms." Riding on the back of a mythical qilin, considered the steed of the divine, this winged figure resembles Leigong, the Chinese God of Thunder.

A 14th-century historical novel attributed to playwright Luo Guanzhong, "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" is a dramatized account of the final years of the Han dynasty and the emergent power struggles of the Three Kingdoms period, spanning from 169 to 280 AD. Drawing from popular legend, the novel uses the turbulent lives of feudal lords to tell a tale of fallen empires and the inevitability of fate.