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Source Description
This piece of ochre amber is carved in the round in the form of Li Bai 李白 (701–762), also known as Li Taibai or Li Taibo, 李太白. He was a poet in the golden age of Chinese poetry. Around a thousand poems are attributed to him. <br><br>Li’s eyes are closed, an arm wrapped around his wine jar, in a drunken sleep. Perched on his shoulder is a bat, considered a lucky symbol as the Chinese word for bat, 蝠 fú, is pronounced the same as “good fortune” 福. Deer, like the one nestled behind Li, traditionally symbolize longevity and prosperity. These auspicious symbols create a bittersweet contrast with the legendary story that Li drowned while drunk when reaching to grasp the moon's reflection in the river.
Scholar Source Context
Document identity
localId
144926
label
Li Taibo
core
obj
dtoType
object
pageCount
1
Source metadata
id
144926
contentType
object
title
Li Taibo
description
This piece of ochre amber is carved in the round in the form of Li Bai 李白 (701–762), also known as Li Taibai or Li Taibo, 李太白. He was a poet in the golden age of Chinese poetry. Around a thousand poems are attributed to him. <br><br>Li’s eyes are closed, an arm wrapped around his wine jar, in a drunken sleep. Perched on his shoulder is a bat, considered a lucky symbol as the Chinese word for bat, 蝠 fú, is pronounced the same as “good fortune” 福. Deer, like the one nestled behind Li, traditionally symbolize longevity and prosperity. These auspicious symbols create a bittersweet contrast with the legendary story that Li drowned while drunk when reaching to grasp the moon's reflection in the river.
date
1700s
rights
CC0
rightsUri
CC0
language
en
wikidata
Q79922564
genreSpecific
Stone
imageCount
1
source
import
dimensionsRaw
Overall: 5.7 cm (2 1/4 in.)
cul
China, Qing dynasty (1644-1911)
accession
1970.131
Source extras
tec
amber
tombstone
Li Taibo (李太白), 1700s. China, Qing dynasty (1644-1911). Amber; overall: 5.7 cm (2 1/4 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of Lois Clarke, 1970.131
titleInOriginalLanguage
李太白
collection
China - Qing Dynasty
didYouKnow
Li Bai was one of the Eight Immortals of the Wine Cup, Tang dynasty scholars who enjoyed drinking alcohol.
citations
citation
Lee, Sherman E. “The Year in Review for 1970.” <em>The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art</em>, vol. 58, no. 2, 1971, pp. 22–71.
page_number
Mentioned: cat. no. 140, p. 70
url
www.jstor.org/stable/25152361.
creditline
Gift of Lois Clarke
sketchfabId
0203b5c17763438c8be2e173dad64ad5
updatedAt
2026-06-18 21:16:00.579000
sourceId
144926
dept
Chinese Art
coll
China - Qing Dynasty
med
amber
thumbnail_url
image_url
Single page context
seq
1
pageIndex
0
type
photo
mediaId
ac4b6d184fef362c