YUAN-MING DYNASTY, 13TH-14TH CENTURY

Similar types of figures can be seen in a number of Buddhist temples of the Ming dynasty in Shanxi province. In the Guanyin Hall and the Thousand Buddha Hall of the Shuanglin Temple in Pingyaoxian, south of Taiyuan, large numbers of clay figures of heavenly bodhisattvas adorn the walls. They are dressed in robes whose details are strongly modeled to emphasize the thickness of the drapery folds and the often unusual swirling and fluttering patterns of hems and borders of the layered gowns, sleeves, shawls, etc. Like the present pair they are painted predominantly in red and green pigments with added relief decoration. The facial features are delicate and feminine, the hair arranged in two curls at the front, above the large urna. Similar types of figures can also be seen in the Zhenguo and the Shuanglin Temples, also in Pingyaoxian: see The Research Institute of the Buddhism Culture of China, Buddhist Sculpture of Shanxi Province, Hong Kong, 1991, pls. 11, 15, 18 and 172-180.