Li Taibo (1700s): Art, History and Details

Li Taibo (1700s) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection.

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

This piece of ochre amber is carved in the round in the form of Li Bai 李白 (701–762), also known as Li Taibai or Li Taibo, 李太白. He was a poet in the golden age of Chinese poetry. Around a thousand poems are attributed to him. Li’s eyes are closed, an arm wrapped around his wine jar, in a drunken sleep. Perched on his shoulder is a bat, considered a lucky symbol as the Chinese word for bat, 蝠 fú, is pronounced the same as “good fortune” 福. Deer, like the one nestled behind Li, traditionally symbolize longevity and prosperity. These auspicious symbols create a bittersweet contrast with the legendary story that Li drowned while drunk when reaching to grasp the moon's reflection in the river.

Object facts

• Title: Li Taibo
• Date: 1700s
• Culture: China, Qing dynasty (1644-1911)
• Type: Stone
• Technique: amber
• Dimensions: Overall: 5.7 cm (2 1/4 in.)
• Collection: China - Qing Dynasty
• Department: Chinese Art
• Accession number: 1970.131

A detail from the museum

Li Bai was one of the Eight Immortals of the Wine Cup, Tang dynasty scholars who enjoyed drinking alcohol.

Collection credit

Gift of Lois Clarke

Further reading listed by the museum

• Lee, Sherman E. “The Year in Review for 1970.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art, vol. 58, no. 2, 1971, pp. 22–71.

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.