MING DYNASTY (1368-1644)

Details

A RARE SANCAI-GLAZED TILEWORKS GROUP DEPICTING THE BUDDHA’S PARINIRVANA
MING DYNASTY (1368-1644)
The Buddha is shown lying on his right side with his hand supporting his head on a cushion, while being mourned by the three disciples kneeling behind him on the top of the rectangular plinth which is decorated in high relief on the front with a dragon amidst clouds, and on the reverse with two confronted phoenixes. The group is covered overall with green, cream and ochre glazes.
16 ½ in. (42 cm.) high

Provenance

Thiel's Los Angeles, California, 3 September 1968.

Exhibited

On loan: Minneapolis, Minnesota, The Minneapolis Institute of Arts, May 1981-January 1995.

Lot Essay

Compare the very similar sancai tileworks group depicting the Buddha’s parinirvana by Qiao Bin, dated to 1503, in the collection of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 25.227.1, illustrated by Denise Patry Leidy, Donna Strahan, et al., Wisdom Embodied: Chinese Buddhist and Daoist Sculpture in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2010, p. 182, no. A55.

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