Page 67 - Bonhams Auction NYC Japanese and Korean Art March 15, 2017

6149 (detail)

6149
A STANDING WOOD FIGURE OF A SHINTO DEITY
Heian period (794–1185), late 10th century
Carved from a single block of wood, he stands in an imposing, pensive
pose, wearing the characteristic formal garb of a Chinese or Japanese
courtier of the Tang dynasty or Heian period, his hands held together in
front concealed by voluminous sleeves and wearing a court cap which
bears extensive traces of black pigment, some traces also visible on
his triangular beard, his face with its serene expression largely intact,
most of the rest of the surface with extensive worm damage which is
especially pronounced on his right side; mounted on a modern wood
stand
33 7/8in (86cm) high

US$35,000 - 45,000

Published: expression and pointed beard of the present lot invite comparison
Stephen Addiss, Michael G. Cunningham and others, A Myriad with a seated kami Daishogun (Great General) in the Daishogun Hachi
of Autumn Leaves: Japanese Art from the Kurt and Millie Gitter Jinja Shrine, Kyoto, probably from slightly later in the Heian period.1
Collection, New Orleans Museum of Art 1983, cat. no. 108, which The present figure has been tentatively identified as the work of a
records that a radiocarbon test on this lot indicated a date in the third fine provincial sculptor from the Tohoku region, on the basis of similar
quarter of the tenth century. images in the Matsuoyama Kannondo and Manzoki, Iwate Prefecture.2
The marks of prolonged exposure to wind, weather, and insect pests
In contrast to the preceding lot, which gives Buddhist form to a kami enhance rather than detract from its calm authority and appealing
(Shinto deity), this figure portrays a kami in the guise of a court official. personality.
Starting in the late seventh century, Japan's rulers introduced a 1. Haruki Kageyama and Christine Guth Kanda, Shinto Arts: Nature,
bureaucratic system and code of laws modeled upon those of China's Gods, and Man in Japan, New York, Japan Society, 1976, cat. no. 5;
Tang dynasty. The highest positions below the Emperor himself were Victor Harris ed., Shinto: The Sacred Art of Ancient Japan, London,
taken by members of the leading clans, who made claims to divine The British Museum Press, 2001, cat. no. 63.
descent in order to legitimize their formal political authority; not long 2. Stephen Addiss, Michael G. Cunningham and others, A Myriad
afterwards, figures of kami personified as courtiers, often wearing of Autumn Leaves: Japanese Art from the Kurt and Millie Gitter
formal headgear, started to be produced. These divine bureaucrats Collection, New Orleans Museum of Art 1983, p. 297.
are nearly always shown in a seated or kneeling position, making the
present lot an exceptional rarity. JAPANESE AND KOREAN ART | 65
The earliest figures portraying kami in courtly attire are probably a pair
in Kyoto's Matsuno-o Shrine, dated to the ninth century, but the facial