.jpg?w=1)
拍品專文
Previously sold in these Rooms, 1 May 2000, lot 751.
The present figure belongs to a group of images from the Daoist pantheon which developed as early as the Six Dynasties, and flourished throughout the Tang dynasty. By the Northern Song period, Daoism was known to have gained further momentum when Emperor Huizong (r. 1100-1125) gave himself the title, Daojun huangdi (August Emperor, Lord of the Dao), and became a patron of the Daoist cleric Lin Lingsu, who founded a new Daoist order, the Divine Empyrean, Shenxiao, movement, cf. S. Little, Taoism and the Arts of China, The Art Institute of Chicago, 2000, p. 21.
The overall imagery of the present figure and the attribution of the ruyi, identifies this figure as Lingbao tianzun, the Celestial Worthy of Numinous Treasure. This deity appeared in the Tang dynasty as part of a trinity of high gods known as the Three Purities, Sanqing; together they were known as the pure emanations of the Dao, and the highest deities of the Daoist pantheon. The other two deities forming the trinity are known as Yuanshi tianzun, the Celestial Worthy of Primordial Beginning; and Daode tianzun, the Celestial Worthy of the Way and Its Power.
Although no other comparable early Daoist gilt-bronzes have been published, a related gilt-bronze figure of Laozi, dated to 15th/16th century, is illustrated in Buddhist Images in Gilt Metal, Chang Foundation, Taipei, 1993, p. 170, no. 78. Stylistically the closest comparison can be found in paintings. Compare the facial features of the present figure with Daoist deities depicted on wall murals of the Hall of the Three Purities in the Eternal Joy Temple, Shanxi province, completed in 1325 by Ma Junxiang, illustrated op. cit., 2000, p. 26, fig. 8.
Daoism continued its popularity in the early Ming period, and manifested itself ceramics produced at the Longquan kilns, such as the celadon glaze Daoist shrine depicting the same diety, Lingbao tianzun, dated to the Hongwu yichou year (1385), sold in these Rooms, 26 April 2004, lot 1026.
The present figure belongs to a group of images from the Daoist pantheon which developed as early as the Six Dynasties, and flourished throughout the Tang dynasty. By the Northern Song period, Daoism was known to have gained further momentum when Emperor Huizong (r. 1100-1125) gave himself the title, Daojun huangdi (August Emperor, Lord of the Dao), and became a patron of the Daoist cleric Lin Lingsu, who founded a new Daoist order, the Divine Empyrean, Shenxiao, movement, cf. S. Little, Taoism and the Arts of China, The Art Institute of Chicago, 2000, p. 21.
The overall imagery of the present figure and the attribution of the ruyi, identifies this figure as Lingbao tianzun, the Celestial Worthy of Numinous Treasure. This deity appeared in the Tang dynasty as part of a trinity of high gods known as the Three Purities, Sanqing; together they were known as the pure emanations of the Dao, and the highest deities of the Daoist pantheon. The other two deities forming the trinity are known as Yuanshi tianzun, the Celestial Worthy of Primordial Beginning; and Daode tianzun, the Celestial Worthy of the Way and Its Power.
Although no other comparable early Daoist gilt-bronzes have been published, a related gilt-bronze figure of Laozi, dated to 15th/16th century, is illustrated in Buddhist Images in Gilt Metal, Chang Foundation, Taipei, 1993, p. 170, no. 78. Stylistically the closest comparison can be found in paintings. Compare the facial features of the present figure with Daoist deities depicted on wall murals of the Hall of the Three Purities in the Eternal Joy Temple, Shanxi province, completed in 1325 by Ma Junxiang, illustrated op. cit., 2000, p. 26, fig. 8.
Daoism continued its popularity in the early Ming period, and manifested itself ceramics produced at the Longquan kilns, such as the celadon glaze Daoist shrine depicting the same diety, Lingbao tianzun, dated to the Hongwu yichou year (1385), sold in these Rooms, 26 April 2004, lot 1026.