Page 259 - Important Chinese Art Sothebys March 2019

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propertY From an amerICan prIVate
CoLLeCtIon
A RARE BRONZE FIGURE OF
KSITIGARBHA
DATED JIAJING 40TH YEAR,
CORRESPONDING TO 1561

cast seated in lalitasana holding a cintamani
in the lap, with shaved monk’s pate, long,
pendulous earlobes, and a round face, adorned
in tiered necklaces centered by a lotus pendant,
the floral-bordered robes draped about the
body and over the dhoti, tied at the waist and
extending over the bare feet, the reverse of the
figure with an inscribed dedication dated to the
eighth day of the fourth month of the fortieth
year of the Jiajing reign, corresponding to 1561,
wood stand (2)
height 17⅛ in., 43.6 cm
PROVENANCE
acquired in montreal, Canada, 1992.
Buddhist figures dating to the Jiajing period
are exceedingly rare, as the Jiajing emperor
was a devoted Daoist disciple who actively
suppressed Buddhism during his reign. It is
recorded that as early as the sixth year of his
reign (1527), the emperor ordered the closure
of both the Western mountain ordination center
in Beijing and the one at tianning monastery.
as a result of the official encouragement
in Daoist practice, bronze figures of Daoist
Immortals were more commonly produced and
today survive in greater numbers than Buddhist
icons from the period.
$ 80,000-120,000

明嘉靖四十年（1561年） 銅漆金
地藏菩薩坐像
銘文：
湖廣漢陽府□□□北山□礼坊居住奉道信
黃守 同緣人孫氏 上同母李氏 同男黃世科
次男二保 發心喜捨資財 鑄造聖像一尊 永
遠供奉 嘉靖四十年四月初八日造

來源
購於蒙特利爾，加拿大，1992年

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