thanks marlonjohn. At the moment his polycount is 41235, though about quarter of that is taken up by his stick.

small update - I added his necklace, finished the ends of the stick, gave him some bulbous earlobes, also some sandals and built a new fan. I probably won't include the fan in the final model as it's a bit thin or I might build a thick version at the end.

Still need to do some major work on his robe and his trousers and then I think I am ready to build his smiling blend shape face and rig him.