This diminutive figure of the Christ Child with the Holy Nails wascarved from elephant ivory in South China, likely in Zhangzhou(Fujian Province), between the last decade of the sixteenth centuryand the early seventeenth century.1Zhangzhou, one of the most important coastal cities inFujian Province, was a notable centre for ivory carving in late MingChina. The tradition of carving secular and religious figures (forBuddhist and Daoist private shrines) in ivory in southern Fujianwas bolstered by the emergence of a new appreciation for andconsumption of luxury goods among the urban elite. Europeanswith access to the Fujian markets—together with their local andhinterland agents, merchants and Christian missionaries alike,and probably some newly-converted locals—began commissioningreligious ivory carvings and this demand was quickly met byChinese craftsmen.Although ivory is not specifically listed among the productsof Fujian for that period, by 1573 Fujianese merchants were bringingcrucifixes for sale in Manila.2 More heavily Sinicised devotionalivories, such as the present example, were likely carved in Fujianin this context, with some—such as those from the shipwreck ofthe Santa Margarita (1601)—making their way to the Philippinesand then onward to Acapulco aboard the Manila galleon.3Other carvings, commissioned directly by the new clientele,particularly Spanish missionaries settled in the Philippines, werelikely produced in Manila and conformed more closely to contemporaryEuropean aesthetics. The demand was so high, and theprofit margins so enticing, that increasing numbers of Fujianesecraftsmen and merchants settled in Manila from the 1580s onwards.Among the Christian religious ivory carvings producedin Asia under European influence, the most abundant are thoserelated to the Passion of Christ, featuring figures of the Crucified Christ in various sizes and levels of carving quality, amountingto hundreds of examples. This is not surprising, given that theCrucifixion is central to Christian theology, symbolising Christ’ssacrifice for humanity’s salvation. For missionaries working in Asiaat the turn of the seventeenth century, the image of the CrucifiedChrist was a powerful tool to communicate Christianity’s coretenet—redemption through suffering and death.While no other examples of the present iconography areknown, the present statuette shares many similarities with a smallgroup of seated figures of the Christ Child as the Saviour of theWorld (Salvator Mundi) that have survived as heirloom pieces andalso as archaeological finds, most notably from the Santa Margarita.4Superbly carved, the present figurine wears the same typeof tunic and adopts the same meditative pose as the Salvator Mundiexamples, with the right hand placed near the temple. However,the inclusion of the three nails of the Crucifixion in the Child’s lefthand—replacing the orb—reveals a deeper theological meaning:the meditation on Christ’s Passion and suffering on the Cross.Noteworthy are traces of gilding on the nails, hair, and hem ofthe tunic, as well as the polychromy on the lips and eyes of theChrist Child.Other iconographical types combining the imagery of theSaviour of the World with that of the Good Shepherd were alsorecovered from the Santa Margarita shipwreck, notably a representationof the Naked Christ Child. Crouched, the Child’s posturesimilarly symbolises meditation on the Passion.
HMC
1 Published in Crespo, Hugo Miguel, Chinese Christian Art. From the South China Sea to the Imperial Court (1580–1900), Lisbon, São Roque Antiguidades & Galeria de Arte, 2025, pp. 14–15, fig. 5.
2 Gillman, Derek, ‘Ming and Qing Ivories: figure carving’, in Watson, William (ed.), Chinese Ivories from the Shang to the Qing (cat.), London, The Oriental Ceramic Society–British Museum,1984, pp. 35–52, p. 37.
3 For the carved ivories of the Santa Margarita, see Trusted, Marjorie, ‘Survivors of a Shipwreck: Ivories from a Manila Galleon of 1601’, Hispanic Research Journal 14.5 (2013), pp. 446–462.
4 Crespo, Hugo Miguel, Chinese Christian Art. From the South China Sea to the Imperial Court (1580–1900), Lisbon, São Roque Antiguidades & Galeria de Arte, 2025, pp. 11–15, figs. 1–6.