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Lot Essay
This enormous figure undoubtedly came from the same workshop as the standing guardian in the present sale, lot 512. From their size and quality of the casting, it is highly probable that these figures were ordered for a special commission.
As guardian kings of the four cardinal points, these figures are important deities in the Buddhist pantheon as protectors of the law. The present figure can be identified as Virudhaka, Guardian of the South who was believed to possess the power to increase man's kindness; he is normally portrayed carrying a sword of which only the pommel now remains, and is visible in the right hand of the guardian. Compare with its imposingly massive standing companion figure offered in the present sale, lot 512, which can probably be identified as Virupaksa, Guardian of the West. A limited published number of massive gilt-bronze figures are known: cf. the two guardians from the Fuller Memorial Collection, now in the Seattle Art Museum, illustrated by H. Munsterberg, Chinese Buddhist Bronzes, New York, 1988, nos. 93 and 94; and a large standing figure from the Nitta Collection, illustrated in The Crucible of Compassion and Wisdom, National Palace Museum, Taibei, 1987, p. 217, pl. 120. A set of four smaller ungilt guardian figures from the Yuan period, with a fourth of Ming date, was sold in these Rooms, Visions of the Buddhist Paradise, 26 April 1998, lot 608.
It is interesting to note the unusual cloth cap headdress of the present figure, and the scallop-form court headdress worn by its standing companion; both these figures incorporate fashion from the secular world. Cloth caps, known as wusha mao, were made of a fine mesh of either woven horse hair or rami, and worn over hair that had been tied into a topknot. These were widely worn by scholar-officials and their attendants, and often depicted in Ming period paintings.
This style of headdress is also found on depictions of Guandi, the historical figure Guanyu who was later deified as the God of War. Compare to an ungilt bronze figure of Guandi dated to 1564, seated in a similar stance and wearing a cloth cap, illustrated in Gems of Chinese Art from the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, Hong Kong, 1983, no. 112. Compare also a large hanging scroll, 'Guanyu Captures an Enemy General', attributed to the early 15th century artist Shang Xi, in the Palace Museum Collection, illustrated in Zhongguo Meishu Quanji: Huihua Bian, Shanghai, 1996, vol. 6, no. 81. Shang Xi's Guanyu wears the same type of cloth cap; seated in almost the same posture, with exception for the hands held clasped to the right knee. Unlike the victorious image of Guanyu depicted in the painting, in this instance the craftsman had expertly manipulated the massive sculptural form to portray an uncomparable and unique superhuman warrior that manifests an aura of a fearsome demonic demi-god.
As guardian kings of the four cardinal points, these figures are important deities in the Buddhist pantheon as protectors of the law. The present figure can be identified as Virudhaka, Guardian of the South who was believed to possess the power to increase man's kindness; he is normally portrayed carrying a sword of which only the pommel now remains, and is visible in the right hand of the guardian. Compare with its imposingly massive standing companion figure offered in the present sale, lot 512, which can probably be identified as Virupaksa, Guardian of the West. A limited published number of massive gilt-bronze figures are known: cf. the two guardians from the Fuller Memorial Collection, now in the Seattle Art Museum, illustrated by H. Munsterberg, Chinese Buddhist Bronzes, New York, 1988, nos. 93 and 94; and a large standing figure from the Nitta Collection, illustrated in The Crucible of Compassion and Wisdom, National Palace Museum, Taibei, 1987, p. 217, pl. 120. A set of four smaller ungilt guardian figures from the Yuan period, with a fourth of Ming date, was sold in these Rooms, Visions of the Buddhist Paradise, 26 April 1998, lot 608.
It is interesting to note the unusual cloth cap headdress of the present figure, and the scallop-form court headdress worn by its standing companion; both these figures incorporate fashion from the secular world. Cloth caps, known as wusha mao, were made of a fine mesh of either woven horse hair or rami, and worn over hair that had been tied into a topknot. These were widely worn by scholar-officials and their attendants, and often depicted in Ming period paintings.
This style of headdress is also found on depictions of Guandi, the historical figure Guanyu who was later deified as the God of War. Compare to an ungilt bronze figure of Guandi dated to 1564, seated in a similar stance and wearing a cloth cap, illustrated in Gems of Chinese Art from the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, Hong Kong, 1983, no. 112. Compare also a large hanging scroll, 'Guanyu Captures an Enemy General', attributed to the early 15th century artist Shang Xi, in the Palace Museum Collection, illustrated in Zhongguo Meishu Quanji: Huihua Bian, Shanghai, 1996, vol. 6, no. 81. Shang Xi's Guanyu wears the same type of cloth cap; seated in almost the same posture, with exception for the hands held clasped to the right knee. Unlike the victorious image of Guanyu depicted in the painting, in this instance the craftsman had expertly manipulated the massive sculptural form to portray an uncomparable and unique superhuman warrior that manifests an aura of a fearsome demonic demi-god.