Carved wooden model of a kneeling soldier practising ancestor worship by offering food to his ancestor on an altar table. On the table are four food containers, two candlesticks and an ancestor tablet. On the reverse are four characters which read: 天官絲(賜)福 ‘tian guan ci fu', which means ‘May the Ruler of Heaven bestow good fortune’. This is a common blessing, which often appears on Chinese charms or spring couplets.
These objects are only a part of our collections, of which there are more than 350,000 objects. This information comes from our collections database. Some of this is incomplete and there may be errors. This part of the website is also still under construction, so there may be some fields repeated or incorrectly formatted information.
The database retains language taken from historical documents to help research. Please note that some records may feature language and reflect systems of thinking that are outdated and offensive. The database also includes information on objects that are considered secret or sacred by some communities.
If you have any further information about objects in our collections, can suggest corrections to our information or if you see content requiring immediate action, please contact us: enquiry@horniman.ac.uk
