Boxwood (huang yang mu) carving of ‘He Xiangu’ (何仙姑), also named ‘He Qiong’ (何瓊), who is the only female deity among the Eight Immortals. At birth she had six long hairs on the crown of her head. When she was about 14 or 15, a divine personage appeared to her in a dream and instructed her to eat powdered mica which would turn her into an Immortal. One day she ascended to heaven in broad daylight, and became a Xian (Taoist Immortal). Her lotus flower improves one's health, mental and physical. She is here depicted holding a lotus leaf over her shoulder. This small carving entered our collection in 1968. It was discovered in a small oriental shop in the Eastern part of the Netherlands together with four other Immortals. In total there should have been eight Immortals but three had already been sold. The carving of these figures is of an exceptional quality. They were made around the early 1960’s or late 1950’s. Size without stand: Height 10 cm. Width 4 cm. Depth 3.5 cm.