Page 34 - 2019 September 11th Bonhams Lewis Collection Japanese and Korean Art NYC

541
A LARGE WOOD FIGURE OF TAMONTEN (KUBERA)
Heian period (794-1185), 12th century
The head and torso carved from a single block of wood, the figure
shown in a contrapposto stance dressed in Chinese-style armor and
holding a pagoda and spear, with traces of gesso, standing on a
subdued demon
38in (96.5cm) high, figure only, 40 1/8in (102cm) high overall
$25,000 - 35,000

Provenance
Purchased from Hiroshi Yanagi Oriental Art, Kyoto, 2010
Tamonten, literally “The heavenly king who hears much,” is the
most potent of the Shitenno (Four Heavenly Kings) and the only
one to be included, in more recent centuries, in the popular
grouping of Shichifukujin (The Seven Gods of Good Fortune).
He is nearly always identifiable by a pagoda in his left hand from
which he bestows teachings and treasures upon the worthy, and
a spear in his right hand which guards against distraction and
deviation from the Buddhist law. For a related eleventh-century
example, made like the present lot from a single block of wood
in the ichibokuzukuri technique and with similarly dramatic yet
uncomplicated carving and modeling, compare an example in Nara
National Museum, https://www.narahaku.go.jp/collection/1138-0.
html, inv. no Cho (Sculpture) 104; also published in Nara
National Museum, Nara Kokuritsu Hakubutsukan zohin zuhan
mokoroku (Illustrated Catalogues of Nara National Museum), 1999,
p.108.

32 | BONHAMS