Page 135 - Fine Asian Works of Art December 19, 2016, SF
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8210                                                      8211

PROPERTY FROM A NOBLE FAMILY

8210
A CAST BRONZE FIGURE OF WEITUO
17th century
The guardian of the Buddhist faith Skanda depicted with a youthful
face and his hands clasped in anjali mudra, wearing a helmet,
elaborate armor and a long scarf billowing around him as he stands on
a separately cast waisted stand raised on four corner feet.
11 5/8in (29.5cm) high

US$2,000 - 4,000

8211                                                                        8212
A CAST BRONZE FIGURE OF A GUARDIAN DEITY
16th/17th century                                                           PROPERTY FROM VARIOUS OWNERS
the wild-eyed figure with a five peaked crown fronting his twin top
knots as he raises a protective sword in his right hand, his thin frame     8212
clothed in a long skirt banded with incised lotus blossoms tied over a      A CAST BRONZE CENSER
breastplate and legging and a ribbon-like scarf that billows around him     Xuande mark, 18th century
as he stands on a replacement carved wood base, the metal surfaces          Thickly cast with a wide flat rim to the body of compressed globular
showing traces of gilt and red lacquer.                                     form raised on a canted foot, the loop handles gradually diminishing
13 1/4in (33.5cm) height of bronze figure                                   in thickness as they turn downward from the neck to the body, the
15 3/4in (40cm) height including wood base                                  deeply recessed base cast with a rectangular reserve bearing the
                                                                            six-character mark in raised standard script and traces of a punched
US$2,000 - 4,000                                                            inscription by a later owner surrounding the mark.
                                                                            10in (25.5cn) length across handles
Given the lotus flower bands on the figure's clothing, our guardian
may be the sword-bearing Buddhist Guardian of the South, Virudhaka          US$7,000 - 9,000
(Molihong in Chinese). His exaggerated facial features, emaciated body
and billowing scarf mirror characteristics of late Ming figural sculpture.
For similar features in a standing figure of the Daoist immortal Lu
Dongbin, see Robert Mowry, China's Renaissance in Bronze The
Robert H. Clague Collection of Later Chinese Bronzes 1100-1900,
1993, no. 52, pp. 210-11 (as Ming dynasty, 16th century - first half
17th century).

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