Dimensions: R 7 × H 18.5 cm
Artists: Xiao Jianbo & Zhu Yucheng (China)

Xiao Jianbo (b. 1958, Wujin, Jiangsu) is a nationally recognized master of Chinese arts and crafts and a senior researcher-level ivory carver. A provincial Intangible Cultural Heritage inheritor, he serves as a director of the China Arts and Crafts Society and sits on the Chinese Ivory Carving Committee. He is also vice chairman of the Jiangsu Provincial Arts and Crafts Association, a guest painter at the Jiangsu Chinese Painting Academy, and vice chairman of the Changzhou Federation of Literary and Art Circles.

Since 1976, Xiao has specialized in shallow-carved ivory, pioneering a freehand “ink-and-wash” carving style that has established its own school. His works have won the Huayi Cup Gold Award—the highest academic prize of the China Arts and Crafts Society—along with multiple top honors at national master exhibitions, and are held in major museum collections, including the China Arts and Crafts Museum.

This piece, co-created with Zhu Yucheng, fuses the subtlety of Chinese ink painting with the precision of ivory carving, depicting a tranquil pastoral scene of cattle herding with remarkable grace and depth.