Lot Essay
The inscription gives the names of the donors, Li Feng and Li Tianjing, and interestingly even the maker, Piao Zhiyi of Shancheng town in Yangcheng county, Shanxi Province.
Yan Wang is the King of Hell of Chinese mythology. These figures were probably made at the same time as the similarly inscribed and dated bronze figure of Yan Wang, illustrated by M.Goedhuis in Chinese and Japanese Bronzes A.D.1100- 1900, Catalogue, no.9, who also points out the importance of the early mastery of cast iron production in China in view of the chronic shortage of copper. "Chinese craftsmen excelled in this field. As hardly any large bronze sculptures exist... they provide us with often dated evidence of figural sculptures. The figure of Yan Wang is a typical example of the imposing almost monumental style of cast iron sculpture. A particular curiosity is that in this type of seated sculpture the head is proportionately too small for the body, which makes it appear more distant- rather like looking up at one of the large Buddhist sculptures hewn out of rock."
Cf. the two iron heads in the Avery Brundage Collection of Chinese, Korean and Japanese Sculpture, p.313, pl.165-6. Also, see J Needham, The Development of Iron and Steel Technology in China, Newcomen Society, London, 1958
Yan Wang is the King of Hell of Chinese mythology. These figures were probably made at the same time as the similarly inscribed and dated bronze figure of Yan Wang, illustrated by M.Goedhuis in Chinese and Japanese Bronzes A.D.1100- 1900, Catalogue, no.9, who also points out the importance of the early mastery of cast iron production in China in view of the chronic shortage of copper. "Chinese craftsmen excelled in this field. As hardly any large bronze sculptures exist... they provide us with often dated evidence of figural sculptures. The figure of Yan Wang is a typical example of the imposing almost monumental style of cast iron sculpture. A particular curiosity is that in this type of seated sculpture the head is proportionately too small for the body, which makes it appear more distant- rather like looking up at one of the large Buddhist sculptures hewn out of rock."
Cf. the two iron heads in the Avery Brundage Collection of Chinese, Korean and Japanese Sculpture, p.313, pl.165-6. Also, see J Needham, The Development of Iron and Steel Technology in China, Newcomen Society, London, 1958