Page 126 - 2019 September 10th Sotheby's Important Chinese Art Junkunc Collection

233 A VERY RARE GILT-METAL ‘GUARDIAN KINGS’ BOX AND COVER
TANG / LIAO DYNASTY
唐 / 遼 金屬鎏金鏨四大天王像長方蓋盒

of rectangular form, finely engraved to the top and bottom with the Four Guardian Kings standing on rockwork, including one
holding a stupa and another holding a sword, all against a finely executed ring-punched ground, the sides with ring-punched
lozenge patterns (2)

Length 2½ in., 6.3 cm
$ 50,000-70,000

PROVENANCE 來源
Collection of Stephen Junkunc, III (d. 1978). 史蒂芬•瓊肯三世（1978年逝）收藏

Finely engraved with detailed armor and menacing faces, these four figures represent the Four Guardian Kings,
who according to Buddhist philosophy, guard the four cardinal points of the world and protect the Buddhist Law
(dharma). The four kings, who are believed to have been present at every critical moment in Buddha’s life including
his birth and his attainment of nirvana, were originally placed on the four sides of stupas to guard the Buddhist
relics inside. They include Virudhaka, ‘He who enlarges the kingdom’, the Guardian of the South; Dhrtarastra, ‘He
who maintains the kingdom of the Law’, the Guardian of the East; Vaishravana, ‘He who is knowing’, the Guardian
of the North; and Virupaksha, ‘He who observes all things in the kingdom’, the Guardian of the West. Each guardian
is depicted as a fierce warrior, with eyes wide open and a muscular body visible through their armor, while their
celestial nature is shown by their halos and flowing scarves.

Compare a parcel-gilt and silvered bronze reliquary box, from the Tang/Liao dynasty, engraved to the sides with the
Guardian King of the North, depicted in a closely related style with very similar headdresses and leg armors in particular,
sold in these rooms, 22nd September 2005, lot 32. See another Tang dynasty reliquary box, decorated in repoussé
with engraved details around the exterior with four related Guardian Kings in a more elaborate style, discovered in the
underground palace beneath Famen temple, Shaanxi province, published in Famensi digong Tang mimanchaluo zhi
yanjiu [Study of Tang mandala from the underground palace of Famen temple], Hong Kong, 1998, pp 407 and 408.

For a Liao dynasty depiction of the Guardian Kings, see a parcel-gilt silver plaque, decorated with the Guardian of the
North seated on a pedestal, published in Pierre Uldry, Chinesische Gold und Silber, Zurich, 1994, pl. 262. Stylistically,
the Guardian Kings on the present lot can also be compared to a pair of guardians painted on a wood door excavated
from a Liao dynasty tomb in Bairin Right Banner, Inner Mongolia, each depicted in a related style standing on a
rockwork with their heads backed by a circular halo, exhibited in Qidan wangchao: Neimenggu Liaodai wenwu jinghua
[Treasures of the Liao dynasty from Inner Mongolia], National Museum of Chinese History, Beijing, 2002, p. 65; and
a small gilt-bronze funerary door, decorated with a standing guardian holding a sword, unearthed at a Liao tomb in
Balizuo Banner, Inner Mongolia, exhibited in Empires Beyond the Great Wall. The Heritage of Genghis Khan, Natural
History Museum of Los Angeles County, Los Angeles, 1993, p. 116, fig. 75 (right).

本長方蓋盒盒身刻劃四大天王，面容威凜，造工精細，誠 相關遼代四天王形象，可參考一銀局部鎏金牌，刻畫北方
為珍品。四大天王，南方增長、東方持國、北方多聞及西 多聞天王坐於台座，載於Pierre Uldry，《Chinesische
方廣目，守護佛法，護持四天下，於佛塔四方守護，佛祖 Gold und Silber》，蘇黎世，1994年，圖版262。本品
出生、得道時均守護在旁，造型威武雄健，怒目圓睜，衣 四天王造型亦可參考內蒙古巴林右旗遼墓出土一對木門，
袍飄逸。 門上繪天王像，刻畫風格與本品相近，天王身後亦有背
光，立於山石之上，曾展於《契丹王朝：內蒙古遼代文
比較一銅局部鎏金錯銀舍利棺，斷代唐或遼，盒身鏨北方
物精華》，北京，2002年，頁65；另比一銅鎏金小墓門
多聞天王，風格與本品相近，頭冠及腿甲尤其相似，售於
例，其一飾天王持劍像，內蒙古巴林左旗遼墓出土，曾展
紐約蘇富比2005年9月22日，編號32。另比一唐代銅舍
於 《Empires Beyond the Great Wall. The Heritage
利棺，鏨四大天王，風格更為華麗，出土於陝西法門寺地 of Genghis Khan》，洛杉磯郡自然歷史博物館，洛杉
宮，載於《法門寺地宮唐密曼荼羅之研究》，香港，1998
磯，1993年，頁116，圖75 （右）。
年，頁407及408。
124 JUNKUNC: ARTS OF ANCIENT CHINA II