Page 53 - Bonhams Japanese Works of Art September 2015 New York
P. 53
3072
OTHER PROPERTIES
3072 crystal inlaid eyes and framed an ornate open-work gilt metal diadem
A GILT WOOD SCULPTURAL AMIDA TRIAD encircling a tall chignon and backed by a circular nimbus
Edo period (18th century) 26, 16 3/4 and 17in (66, 42.5 and 43.2cm) high
As a haya-raigo (fast welcome) with Amida (Amitabha) standing in $15,000 - 25,000
kirigane decorated monastic robes open at the chest and draping
across both shoulders, the hands in Amida mudra, the serene face A raigo (coming in welcome) is the appearance of Amida Buddha
with crystal-inlaid downcast eyes and an urna framed by a coiffure of and his attendants descending to earth to welcome and escort the
snail-shell curls, the figure fronting an almond-shaped nimbus rising dying devotee back to the Western Paradise. In this representation of
to the back of a double-blossom lotus pedestal encircled by swirling a haya-raigo (fast welcome), or jin’un no Amida (‘swift cloud Amida’),
clouds and raised on an elaborate stepped plinth; accompanied by Amida descends from the clouds, his attendants, the bodhisattvas
two attendants, Seishi (Mahasthamaprapta) with his hands clasped in Seishi and Kannon, in rapid descent with their bodies at an angle in
prayer to the left and Kannon (Avalokiteshvara) offering the small lotus order to convey a sense of inevitability and immediacy to Amida’s
throne in both hands to the right, each of the bodhisattva attendants promise of salvation.
standing in a slightly flexed posture on a single-blossom lotus pedestal
raised on a tiered circular plinth, draped in elegant scarves and
dhoti with fine kirigane patterns, the benign countenance featuring
FINE JAPANESE WORKS OF ART | 51