A CAST-IRON FIGURE OF BUDDHA

MING DYNASTY (1368-1644)

Details

A CAST-IRON FIGURE OF BUDDHA
MING DYNASTY (1368-1644)
Shown seated on a lotus base with hands clasped, wearing loose robes, the face cast with crisp features and a continuous curved brow above the eyes, the hair cast as curls and the top of the head of cone shape, with a nine-character inscription cast in relief on the back, with rusty patina
18½ in. (47 cm.) high, wood stand

Exhibited

Hanover, New Hampshire, Jaffe-Friede Gallery, Dartmouth College, Gifts and Loans from the Mr. & Mrs. William B. Jaffe Collection of Asian Art, June 1964, no. 61.

Lot Essay

The inscription may be read, 'San shi jiu zun Yi Neng San Miao Qing', which refers to the 39th reincarnation of Buddha (called Yi Neng) and possibly to the temple (San Miao Qing) for which it was made.
Compare the related cast-iron figure of a Buddha, dated by inscription to 1520 A. D. and shown seated atop a pedestal, illustrated by d'Argencé, Chinese, Korean and Japanese Sculpture in the Avery Brundage Collection, Tokyo, 1974, p. 310, no. 164.

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