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Lot Essay
Dhritarashtra (Chiguo), Heavenly King of the East, is one of Four Guardians Kings (Lokapalas) placed at the entrance of Buddhist temple halls or hung on all four sides of an altar ward off evil spirits. Depicted in full martial armour and an ornate crown, his wrathful expression signifies the subjugation of negative forces. He cradles a lute in his raised left hand and plucks its strings with his right, an instrument whose divine music converts beings to Buddhism.
Buddhist tradition associates the Heavenly Kings as the defenders of the cardinal directions alongside Virudhaka (Zengchang) of the South, Virupaksha (Guangmu) of the West, and Vaishravana (Duowen) of the North. Beyond their role as protectors of the Buddha's realm, the guardians hold profound political and agricultural significance in China. As taught in the Suvarnaprabhasottama Sutra (Golden Light Sutra), devotion to the Four Kings ensures state protection, favourable weather, and abundant harvests.
In the present lot, the king’s stern countenance is softened by an ethereal setting with three celestial attendants, offering a sense of divine comfort to the worshiper. Surviving Ming dynasty silk embroideries of this iconography remain exceptionally rare. The Palace Museum has a thangka on cloth, in which the depiction of Heavenly King of East closely resembles to the present lot, collection no.: gu00008954 (fig. 1). For a Ming dynasty painting on silk depicting the Heavenly King Virudhaka of similar size, see an example in the collection of The Cleveland Museum of Art, Worcester R. Warner Collection, 1918.544 (fig. 2). Compare also an early Ming embroidered thangka of Heavenly King Virupaska, sold at Christie’s New York, 30 March 2005, lot 197.
Buddhist tradition associates the Heavenly Kings as the defenders of the cardinal directions alongside Virudhaka (Zengchang) of the South, Virupaksha (Guangmu) of the West, and Vaishravana (Duowen) of the North. Beyond their role as protectors of the Buddha's realm, the guardians hold profound political and agricultural significance in China. As taught in the Suvarnaprabhasottama Sutra (Golden Light Sutra), devotion to the Four Kings ensures state protection, favourable weather, and abundant harvests.
In the present lot, the king’s stern countenance is softened by an ethereal setting with three celestial attendants, offering a sense of divine comfort to the worshiper. Surviving Ming dynasty silk embroideries of this iconography remain exceptionally rare. The Palace Museum has a thangka on cloth, in which the depiction of Heavenly King of East closely resembles to the present lot, collection no.: gu00008954 (fig. 1). For a Ming dynasty painting on silk depicting the Heavenly King Virudhaka of similar size, see an example in the collection of The Cleveland Museum of Art, Worcester R. Warner Collection, 1918.544 (fig. 2). Compare also an early Ming embroidered thangka of Heavenly King Virupaska, sold at Christie’s New York, 30 March 2005, lot 197.