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Lot Essay
Manjusri (Wenshu), the bodhisattva of wisdom, is usually shown seated on a lion and is often shown in a triad with the Buddha Sakyamuni and the bodhisattva Samantabhadra (Puxian) who is shown seated on an elephant. Like the present figure, Manjusri is often depicted wearing a five-point crown representing the Wutaishan.
A very similar figure of the bodhisattva Samantabhara seated on an elephant was included in the exhibition 2000 Years of Chinese and Japanese Sculpture, Gerard Hawthorne Ltd., Oriental Art, London, 9 November - 7 November 2000, no. 12. Of approximately the same size and dated to the Ming dynasty, this figure is possibly the mate to the present figure.
A similar figure of Manjusri seated on a lion with more elaborate crown and dated to the Yuan dynasty is in The Metropolitan Museum of Art and illustrated in Zhongguo liu shi hai wai fuo jiao zao xiang zong he tu mu (Comprehensive Illustrated Catalogue of Chinese Buddhist Statues in Overseas Collections), vol. 7, Beijing, 2005, no. 1408. Another comparable figure of Manjusri dated to the Ming dynasty is illustrated in Fuojiao Diaosu Mingpin Tulu, Beijing, 1997, p. 474, no. 454. See, also, two figures of Samantabhadra seated on an elephant, the first illustrated by d'Argencé, ed., Chinese, Korean and Japanese Sculpture in the Avery Brundage Collection, Tokyo, 1974, pl. 149, the second included in the exhibition catalogue, Ancient Chinese Sculptural Treasures: Carvings in Wood, Kaohsiung Musuem of Fine Arts, Kaohsiung, Taiwan, 1998, no. 8. A standing figure of a bodhisattva illustrated ibid., p. 67, no. 11, has a very similar face and is dated Yuan-Ming dynasty.
A very similar figure of the bodhisattva Samantabhara seated on an elephant was included in the exhibition 2000 Years of Chinese and Japanese Sculpture, Gerard Hawthorne Ltd., Oriental Art, London, 9 November - 7 November 2000, no. 12. Of approximately the same size and dated to the Ming dynasty, this figure is possibly the mate to the present figure.
A similar figure of Manjusri seated on a lion with more elaborate crown and dated to the Yuan dynasty is in The Metropolitan Museum of Art and illustrated in Zhongguo liu shi hai wai fuo jiao zao xiang zong he tu mu (Comprehensive Illustrated Catalogue of Chinese Buddhist Statues in Overseas Collections), vol. 7, Beijing, 2005, no. 1408. Another comparable figure of Manjusri dated to the Ming dynasty is illustrated in Fuojiao Diaosu Mingpin Tulu, Beijing, 1997, p. 474, no. 454. See, also, two figures of Samantabhadra seated on an elephant, the first illustrated by d'Argencé, ed., Chinese, Korean and Japanese Sculpture in the Avery Brundage Collection, Tokyo, 1974, pl. 149, the second included in the exhibition catalogue, Ancient Chinese Sculptural Treasures: Carvings in Wood, Kaohsiung Musuem of Fine Arts, Kaohsiung, Taiwan, 1998, no. 8. A standing figure of a bodhisattva illustrated ibid., p. 67, no. 11, has a very similar face and is dated Yuan-Ming dynasty.