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Lot Essay
This powerfully sculpted figure represents one of the 'Four Celestial Kings of the Directions' (Tianwang), the guardians of the four quarters of the world. The current figure can be identified as Virudhaka, the Guardian King of the South, who is always portrayed holding a sword.
A comparable wood figure of a Guardian King dated to the Jin dynasty wearing very similar layered armour but shown standing, was included in the exhibition, The Art of Contemplation - Religious Sculptures from Private Collections, National Palace Museum, 1997, pp. 210-11, no. 94. The distinctive facial features and headdress of the present figure, as well as the broad, corpulent physique, are also comparable to those of a wood torso of a bodhisattva dated to the late Song dynasty and a wood figure of a standing Guanyin inscribed with a date corresponding to 1282, both of which are illustrated by A. Priest, Chinese Sculpture in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1944, pl. CXV, cat. no. 68, and pl. CXVI, cat. no. 69. See, also, the four Guardian Kings wearing similar attire but standing illustrated by M. Gridley, Chinese Buddhist Sculpture under the Liao, New Delhi, 1993, p. 83, nos. 122a and b.
Related guardian figures from this group of bronzes are known but all are smaller in size. Compare the figure modelled with a heavy jowl in the Detroit Institute of Arts, illustrated in Hai-wai Yi-Chen, Chinese Art in Overseas Collections: Buddhist Sculpture, Taibei, 1990, p. 198, no. 182, measuring 30.5 cm. high; a single figure modelled holding a snake in one hand which could be identified as Virupaksa, Guardian King of the West, sold in Hong Kong, 30 April 1997, lot 724 (110 cm. high); and its related pair, sold in London 16 June 1998, lot 7 (112 cm. high).
A comparable wood figure of a Guardian King dated to the Jin dynasty wearing very similar layered armour but shown standing, was included in the exhibition, The Art of Contemplation - Religious Sculptures from Private Collections, National Palace Museum, 1997, pp. 210-11, no. 94. The distinctive facial features and headdress of the present figure, as well as the broad, corpulent physique, are also comparable to those of a wood torso of a bodhisattva dated to the late Song dynasty and a wood figure of a standing Guanyin inscribed with a date corresponding to 1282, both of which are illustrated by A. Priest, Chinese Sculpture in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1944, pl. CXV, cat. no. 68, and pl. CXVI, cat. no. 69. See, also, the four Guardian Kings wearing similar attire but standing illustrated by M. Gridley, Chinese Buddhist Sculpture under the Liao, New Delhi, 1993, p. 83, nos. 122a and b.
Related guardian figures from this group of bronzes are known but all are smaller in size. Compare the figure modelled with a heavy jowl in the Detroit Institute of Arts, illustrated in Hai-wai Yi-Chen, Chinese Art in Overseas Collections: Buddhist Sculpture, Taibei, 1990, p. 198, no. 182, measuring 30.5 cm. high; a single figure modelled holding a snake in one hand which could be identified as Virupaksa, Guardian King of the West, sold in Hong Kong, 30 April 1997, lot 724 (110 cm. high); and its related pair, sold in London 16 June 1998, lot 7 (112 cm. high).