A RARE LACQUERED AND PAINTED WOOD TOMB GUARDIAN FIGURE, ZHENMUSHOU, WARRING STATESChina, Chu Kingdom, 475-221 BC. The monstrous head with round bulging eyes, shaped brows, a long protruding tongue, and a curved neck inserted into a central mortise to the separately carved square base with raised geometric segments, the head with two further mortises to the sides to hold the separately carved antlers, all with black-painted scrolling designs.Provenance: Homo Sapiens di Giannozzo Pandolfini, Firenze, Italy, 2012. Paolo Bertuzzi, acquired from the above. A copy of the original signed invoice from Homo Sapiens di Giannozzo Pandolfini, dated 21 January 2012, dating the present lot to the Warring States period, c. 4th century BC, stating it was duly imported and collected at Venice Airport on 7 December 2010, registered with number 2109 on 27 January 2011, and stating a purchase price of EUR 4,000 or approx.EUR 5,000 (adjusted for inflation at the time of writing), apanies this lot. Paolo Bertuzzi (1943-2022) was a fashion stylist from Bologna, Italy. He was the son of Enrichetta Bertuzzi, founder of Hettabretz, a noted Italian fashionpany with customers such as the Rothschild family, Audrey Hepburn, and Elizabeth Taylor. Paolo Bertuzzi later took over his mother’s business and designed exclusive pieces, some of which were exhibited in the Costume Institute of the Metropolitan Museum in New York, USA. He was also an avid collector of antiques for more than 60 years. His collection includes both archaic and contemporary art, and he edited two important books about Asian art, Goa Made - An Archaeological Discovery, about a large-scale archaeological project carried out with the Italian and Indonesian governments, and Majapahit, Masterpieces from a Forgotten Kingdom.Condition: Good condition,mensurate with age. Extensive wear, losses, chips, age cracks, nicks, scratches, wear to lacquer and pigments, signs of weathering and erosion, old repairs and fills, all as expected from a wood figure of more than 2,000 years of age.Weight: 5,090 g (incl. stand)Dimensions: Height 69.5 cm (incl. stand)With a modern metal stand. (2)This large menacing creature with antlers and a protruding tongue is a guardian (zhenmushou), often found in tombs of the Chu culture in the southern Chinese provinces of Hunan, Henan, and Hubei during the Warring States through Western Han periods. They are found placed in the chamber of the tomb, closest to the head of the tomb occupant and facing inward toward the occupant, in order to protect the deceased. Chu culture is renowned for its elaborately carved and painted lacquer objects; designs similar to the ones on this mythical guardian are also found on Chu textiles and inlaid bronzes of the same period.The southern state of Chu, which dominated the area of the great lakes north of the Yangzi river, is renowned for itsplex views of the spirit world recorded