Not really mine, but my grandfather's. He has two antiques from China that both have a similar "theme" of an old man with his foot on top of a crane. He has has always wondered if there is a connection, but has never known. I was hoping it was possible someone on AskHistorians could help identify the connection (or confirm if there is none).
Items in question:
Carpet - Guy in the middle sitting on the crane
"Statue" - This guy has his foot on a crane
Same guy? Who is he and is there any connection or story? Are these common themes on items from China?
Unfortunately, I don't know much about the origin of the items. Only that I think the pole/statue is from the Panama Canal zone from the 30s (his dad bought it from some Chinese trader?). The carpet may have been from canal zone as well, or Shanghai in the 40s (can't remember).
Edit: I also cross listed this in /r/ChineseHistory here. There are some similar identifications of immortals, particularly Fu Lu Shou.
This is a great starting place for me, thanks.
The old fellow is a xian, or immortal sage. Cranes are a symbol of longevity and immortality.
There are couple specific possibilities.
In the carpet, I'm guessing there are two more figures not pictured, and that he's Zhongli Quan or maybe Zhang Guo (is that possibly a phoenix behind him?). Those are the two beardiest of the Eight Immortals, a really common folk art motif.
Zhongli Quan is usually showing off his belly, while Zhang Guo is usually older than the rest of the group.
The statue - and I'm less comfortable here - looks like Shou (or Sau), one of the trio of Fu Lu Shou. He's called the "god of longevity," and identified with the South Pole Star, Canopus. He's often pictured flying around with a crane.
Shou in general looks a little like Zhongli Quan to me... and the statue could be Zhongli if (as it seems) his robe is open and those are supposed to be his ribs showing. If there's a fan somewhere, that might also clinch it.
The stick might also lean him closer to another of the Eight Immortals, Iron-crutch Li, especially if there's a bottle somewhere on his belt or underfoot. His face doesn't look grouchy enough for that for me, but it's hard without seeing the other seven figures in the same style.
But really, he looks an awful lot like Shou, and Shou is more commonly seen without cohorts than any of the Eight Immortals.
So probably Shou on two, Zhongli Quan on one.
There's an outside chance either of them could be some other immortal or sage ... there are Seven Taoist Masters, Quanzhen qizi, who are sometimes pictured together (or written about) like the Eight Immortals, and cranes are, as I said, a general symbol of longevity or immortality.
The fact that the dude in the statue has one leg raised is not a coincidence... he's being crane-like, whoever he is, in a way that seems like the internal arts cultivated by the fellow who taught the Seven Masters.
