A RARE PAIR OF POLYCHROMED LIFE-SIZED BAKED-CLAY FIGURES OF FEMALE ATTENDANTS

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A RARE PAIR OF POLYCHROMED LIFE-SIZED BAKED-CLAY FIGURES OF FEMALE ATTENDANTS
YUAN/MING DYNASTY

Modeled standing in mirror image, each on a thin slab base, the fuller-bodied figure with right hand raised and fingers spread as if to delicately grasp an object supported on the kerchief-draped open palm of the left hand held out at the waist, the other figure slimmer and in opposite stance with left hand raised and right hand held out at waist level, each figure wearing loose robes with wide sleeves, flowing skirts edged with double hems decorated with raised floral-scroll bands and falling over and exposing bare feet, the neck and chest bare but for a medallion pendent from a plain circlet, the well-modeled head set with features in a serene smile and surmounted by an elaborate, crested crown constructed around wire armature, extensive traces of flesh tones, pink, green, purple and white, each figure cut in sections and reassembled--overall height 69in. (175cm.) (2)

Lot Essay

Similar types of figures can be seen in a number of Buddhist temples of the Ming Dynasty in Shanxi province. In the Guanyin Hall and the Thousand Buddha Hall of the Shuanglin Temple in Pingyaoxian, south of Taiyuan, large numbers of clay figures of heavenly bodhisattvas fill the walls. They are dressed in robes whose details are strongly modeled to emphasize the thickness of the drapery folds and the often unusual swirling and fluttering patterns of hems and borders of the layered gowns, sleeves, shawls, etc. Like the present pair they are painted predominantly in red and green pigments with added relief decoration. The facial features are delicate and feminine, the hair arranged in two curls at the front, above the large urna. Similar types of figures can also be seen in the Zhenguo Temple, also in Pingyaoxian, Chinese Buddhist Cultural Research Institute and Shanxi Cultural Bureau, Buddhist Sculpture of Shanxi Province (Hong Kong, 1991), pls. 11, 15, 18, and 172-180