Stone Shoemaker's Weight with Zhu Bajie

Carved out of stone, this object would have been used in a shoemaker’s shop to press down large pieces of leather. Doubling as a handle, the central figure depicts the curious figure of a man with pig-like facial features holding a rake. A character from the Ming-dynasty novel “Journey to the West,” the figure is Zhu Bajie. A colorful fellow, Zhu Bajie had many adventures, defending against demons with his rake as a weapon and often getting himself and his companions in trouble through his laziness, gluttony and skirt chasing.