Su Wu

Shiwan ware (石灣窯) is a type of pottery from the Shiwanzen Subdistrict (石灣鎮街道) of the city of Foshan, near Guangzhou, Guangdong (广东省), China. 石灣 (Shiwan) is also sometimes transliterated as Shekwan.

Purchased by the donor in 1980 in Shiwan, Guangdong. Presented to her by the artist Lui Zemian, at his workshop.

Su Wu (蘇武) was an emissary from the Western Han dynasty (206 BCE-24 CE). In the visual arts, Su Wu is commonly depicted with his staff, herding sheep.

Shiwan style pottery figure of Su Wu, the faithful diplomat of the Han Dynasty who was forced to become a sheep herder, wearing long flowing robes glazed in a copper-red plum glaze, with a wood staff and long white beard. He has a small white ram at his feet and a long cord of shells wrapped around the top of his staff. Figure is hollow. Interior has impressed artist mark and is inscribed with the artist’s signature.