Liu Hai playing with a toad

This is a piece of ceramic sculpture made in Shiwan depicting "Liu Hai Teasing the Toad". Seated on a large boulder, Liu Hai is trying to catch a toad in a crevice with a string of gold coins. Liu's depiction is vivid and expressive. The various materials, such as the boulder, the toad and the folds in Liu's robe, are fluidly articulated in detail. This piece is by the famous modern Shiwan master, Liu Chuan (1916 - 2000). This work is characteristic of Liu in his late years and bears the seal of "Liu Chuan from Wanxi" on the back. Liu Hai was originally called Liu Haichan. According to folklore, Liu Hai was a hedonist during the first half of his life before he gave up wealth and material satisfaction to pursue the Daoist way of transcendence. Afterwards, there arose legends of Liu performing magical tricks by scattering coins in the marketplace accompanied by a three-legged toad. Legends of Liu Haichan performing magical tricks with money gradually gave rise to the story of "Liu Hai Teasing the Toad [chan in Chinese]". The story of "Liu Hai Teasing the Toad" enjoyed widespread popularity in China. Both the man and the creature were depicted as auspicious deities scattering money everywhere they went. This is why Liu Hai, money, and the toad are often depicted in Lunar New Year pictures, in ceramics, and in carvings in jade, bamboo, wood and ivory.