Page 49 - mar 21 Japanese and korean art Bonhams

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2098
A PAIR OF LARGE GUARDIAN SCULPTURES In Japanese art, the Juni Shinsho, 12 protective deities that ac-
Kamakura period (1185-1333), 13th/14th century company Yakushi, the Medicine Buddha, are distinguished by their
Two of the Juni Shinsho (12 Divine Generals) standing on rocks, menacing facial expressions, aggressive poses, Chinese-style armor,
each of carved and assembled wood, shown dressed in Chinese- and flame-like hair. They made their first appearance in East Asian
style armor, the hems of their garments and scarves flowing as if sculpture in China’s Sui dynasty (581-618); the earliest Japanese
blown by wind, each bearing a fierce expression, the right-hand deity examples in the Shin Yakushiji Temple, Nara, date from the eighth
identifiable by his gesture as Bikara (associated with the rat) and the century but it was not until the Kamakura period that they were
left-hand deity, with a bronze crown decorated with colored stones, frequently represented in temple statuary. By that time, the deities
and rings on his cuirass, perhaps identifiable as Anteira (associated had come to be closely associated with the Zodiac Animals, another
with the monkey), each with eyes inlaid in glass, each with traces of traditional set of twelve, but the identification between named deity
pigment and animal has tended to vary over time. Among the best-known
59in (88.9cm) high, the largert Kamakura-period sets is that in the Tokondo Hall of Kofukuji Temple,
Nara, a National Treasure completed in the early thirteenth century
US$50,000 - 70,000 (http://www.kohfukuji.com/property/cultural/098.html); the present
pair was likely carved about a century later.

FINE JAPANESE AND KOREAN ART | 47