Page 178 - Imperial Sale Chinese Works of Art June 1 2016 HK

3304

A GILT-BRONZE OF A GUARDIAN
FIGURE

MING DYNASTY, 15TH CENTURY

The figure is heavily and powerfully cast with
legs slightly apart, wearing an elaborate chain-
mail under a loose robe tied below the chest and
secured about the waist, with his arms raised to
hold an attribute that is now missing.
17 in. (42.8 cm.) high, wood stand

HK$1,200,000-1,800,000
US$160,000-230,000

PROVENANCE

Alfred Speelman, London
English private collection, acquired in 1978

The present figure is one of the four Devarajas or
Celestial Kings of the Directions, who preside over the
Buddhist Universe on Mount Meru as Protectors of
the Buddhist Law in the Buddhist Pantheon. Specific
identification of these figures is often difficult as
they are predominately recognised by their individual
attributes that are often missing.

Compare to a similarly cast gilt-bronze guardian figure
of Vaisravana, Guardian King of the North, identified
by the tower held in his left hand, in the Nelson-
Atkins Museum of Art, purchased by the Asian Art
Acquisition Fund in memory of Laurence Sickman
and illustrated in Masterworks of Chinese Art, pp.
86-7, where it is dated Yuan dynasty. Another similar
Ming guardian figure, seated and unidentified, is in
the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, accession
number 2002.254. Compare also to two larger Ming
gilt-bronze figures in the Fuller Memorial Collection,
Seattle Art Museum, illustrated by H. Munsterberg,
Chinese Buddhist Bronzes, pls.93 and 94, and
discussed p.120.

明十五世紀 鎏金銅天王立像

來源
Alfred Speelman，倫敦
英國私人珍藏，入藏於1978年

此像應為四天王之一。四天王，或稱
四大金剛，是佛教中的重要護法神。
根據佛教經典，須彌山周圍有四大
洲：東勝神洲、南瞻部洲、西牛賀
洲、北俱蘆洲，各住一天王守護。每
位天王各持不同法器，惟此類鎏金銅
天王的法器多已失，因此造成辨認上
的困難。

美國納爾遜阿特金斯博物館藏有一尊
北方多聞天王毗沙門像，造型與此相
似，館方定為元代。另可比較美國大
都會博物館所藏一尊天王坐像及美國
西雅圖博物館藏兩尊較大的天王像。

176