19th century|Each figure gracefully modelled standing barefoot on rockwork, wearing loose robes with full sleeves and layered skirts, enveloped with billowing celestial scarves, finely incised with scrolling floral designs at the hem, the female figure with hands draped with a presentation cloth, holding a tray with a pearl, her hair pulled back into ribbon-tied double loops at the back, the male figure with hands held together in anjali mudra, the hair arranged in a single tuft above the forehead, wood stands. The tallest 96cm (37 6/8in) high (4).|Longnü, daughter of the Dragon King, and Shancai are referred to in literary sources as acolytes of Guanyin. The youths are each associated with an important Buddhist sutra within the Mahayana tradition. Shancai is thus mentioned in the Avatamsaka Sutra as a young pilgrim who studied with learned masters and celestial bodhisattvas, while the Lotus Sutra described Longnü as an eight-year-old girl who attains enlightenment after presenting her precious pearl to the Buddha.