Yao Taoist Shaman's Scroll, Framed

A crowned deity in red and green fills the scroll, and two smaller figures guard the bottom corners.

This Taoist shaman's scroll, framed, is Yao, from China, and dates to the 19th century. It is pigment on paper, titled The Three Pures: Leng Pu, artist unknown. The Yao people of southern China are well known for painted ritual scrolls of Taoist deities, generally used in sets for ceremonies. Here a bearded deity in a crown sits frontally on a dragon throne, haloed in red and holding a slender scepter. Two smaller haloed figures stand below. It is framed in dark wood, 18 inches wide and 44 high.

A great deal of authority in one vertical strip.