Page 113 - Christie's Inidian and HImalayan Works of Art, March 2019

PROPERTY FROM A PRIVATE ASIAN COLLECTION
676
A GILT AND POLYCHROMED ZITAN The present work is carved entirely from zitan, it resistant to splitting and swelling in changes
FIGURE OF MAITREYA BUDDHA a hardwood from India that was exported to of climate. Fewer works of sculpture in zitan are
TIBET OR CHINA, 17TH-18TH CENTURY China in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties. known, although the precious nature of the wood
8æ in. (22.2 cm.) high A purplish-black, fne-grained hardwood, zitan meant it would have been an appropriate material
was considered the most prized hardwood by for an object of worship. Compare the fne carving,
$25,000-35,000
the Chinese. The density of the wood makes this sensitive modeling, and surface decoration of
material especially suitable for fne and intricate the present fgure with a gilt and polychromed
PROVENANCE carving. Due to its slow-growing nature, zitan zitan fgure of Simhanada Manjughosha sold at
Acquired in the Hong Kong art market, 1990s
often was only available in small quantities, and Christie’s New York, 12 September 2018, lot 324.
by the Qianlong period (1736-1795), its use was
controlled by the emperor himself. Himalayan Art Resources (himalayanart.org),
item no. 24464.
Much of the zitan that came to China was used
for furniture, as the hard grain of the wood made