Page 26 - Bonhams Chinese Art March 2016 New York

PROPERTY FROM A MIDWEST PRIVATE COLLECTION
8037
A RARE MONUMENTAL BRONZE FIGURE OF MAHAKASYAPA
Ming dynasty
The imposing figure cast standing and gazing sternly downwards with thick drooping brows
and a ridged frown above the hooded eyes, the smooth head with a pronounced forehead
and accentuated by elongated earlobes, the body elaborately draped in a heavy outer cloak
reaching to the knees and chased with a richly embroidered border containing lotus blossoms
on a foliate meander, two corners of the robe looped into a circular clasp at the left shoulder
held by a ruyi-shaped buckle and below a three-stranded knotted rope, the two hands clasped
one over the other and held in front of the chest, the undergarment also with an embroidered
hem of zigzag motifs from which the two feet in cloth shoes protrude, all raised on a double
lotus pedestal above a beaded edge.
66in (167.6cm) high
$300,000 - 600,000
明 銅摩訶迦葉站像
This figure of Mahakasyapa is most likely one of a pair, the probable companion being a
figure of Ananda from the collection of Leon and Jean Dalva, sold at Sotheby’s New York,
sale 9191, Images of Enlightenment: Devotional Works of Art and Paintings, 17 September
2014, lot 430.
A bronze figure of a monk dated to the 17th century, with closely related features to the
present lot, including a pronounced forehead, heavy frowning brows, hands clasped in
the same gesture and confident stance on a double lotus pedestal, is in the collection of
the British Museum, accession number 1990,0529.1. However at only 68.8cm high, the
museum figure is considerably smaller than the present lot, and it lacks certain ornate
details such as the buckle on the left shoulder.
A gilt-bronze standing figure of Buddha of similar size to the present lot is in the collection
of the Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto, accession number 922.4.89 from the George Crofts
Collection. Dated to the 16th/17th century, it shows a similar treatment of the heavy folds of
the robe richly decorated with lotus borders, and the double lotus pedestal.

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