A LARGE FINELY CARVED GILT AND LACQUERED WOOD FIGURE OF A GUARDIAN

Details

A LARGE FINELY CARVED GILT AND LACQUERED WOOD FIGURE OF A GUARDIAN
MING DYNASTY

Shown standing in a dramatic pose with right foot forward and left hip swung out to the side where the left hand rests, the right hand placed atop the circular knop of an elaborate spear, wearing ornate, multi-layered armor and sweeping robes draped with scarves, with monster masks at the shoulders and another at the waist with open jaws through which the belt is passed, with further masks carved on the pants legs beneath the separately constructed guards attached above the knees to protect the lower legs, his helmet inset with a mirrored disc and surmounted by a betassled trident finial, crisply carved and finely detailed throughout beneath gold and dark red lacquer (some repairs and chips)
36½in. (92.8cm.) high, wood stand

Further details

END OF SALE

Lot Essay

For another large gilt-lacquered wood temple figure wearing ornate armor, but shown in a seated position, in the Victoria and Albert Museum, see Rose Kerr, Chinese Art and Design: Art Objects in Ritual and Daily Life, New York, 1991, no. 26, where the author notes that the surface of the wood figure is gold leafed and then lacquered to resemble patinated bronze. Another large, elaborately garbed standing figure shown holding a spear in his right hand in the Shanhua Temple, is illustrated in Buddhist Sculpture of Shanxi Province, Hong Kong, 1991, no. 267

Stylistically this figure can also be compared to the large gilt-bronze temple figures, such as the Ming figure of Dvarapala in the Seattle Art Museum illustrated by Hugo Munsterberg, Chinese Buddhist Bronzes, Japan, 1967, pl. 94, as well as two others sold in these rooms, May 30, 1991, lot 9 and June 2, 1994, lot 68