A pair of three-legged toads
1368-1644
- Medium
- Ink and color on silk
- Dimensions
- 21.1 × 20.1 cm
- Status
- In Museum Collection
- Collect24 Art ID
- C24-127318
The magic toad, which represents the “essence” (zhenjing) in internal elixir (neidan) practices, was believed to appear whenever Daoist immortal Liu swung a string of coins. The coins signify Liu’s enlightenment by an immortal who stacked ten eggs on one coin by way of alluding to the precariousness of human existence. In the late Qing period (1644– 1911), a three-legged toad was also used to pra…
Provenance
Gift of Charles Lang Freer
Registry history
- 1368-1644 — Recorded in the collection of National Museum of Asian Art
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