Page 7 - Christie's July 9th 2020 Hong Kong Buddhist Art Under Empire

2701
TWO IMPRESSIVE LARGE PAINTED STUCCO 彩繪泥塑天王頭像
HEADS OF GUARDIAN KINGS 白天王：北宋；紅天王：明或更早
HEAD PAINTED IN WHITE: NORTHERN SONG DYNASTY (960-1127)
HEAD PAINTED IN RED: MING DYNASTY OR EARLIER 來源
The head painted in white is well modelled with a fierce 雲中居舊藏，台北，1980 年代
expression and a large domed forehead. The mouth is closed,
his bulging eyes reveal black glass pupils within the deep 白天王表情氣勢威凜，眉宇忿然，髮束高髻，眼部鑲飾黑琉璃。紅天王
sockets below a furrowed brow. The hair is rolled in segments 面部表情威猛，怒目圓睜，蹙額攢眉，並鑲以黑琉璃眼，髮梳高髻，唇
at the hairline and pulled up into a topknot. The lips are 蓄髭鬚，並以紅、黑顏料勾塗細部，包括眉唇、鬍鬚等處。
painted in dark red, and the brows, moustache and beard are
detailed in black against the stark white skin. The other is 是類泥塑頭像生氣栩栩，面目傳神，山西洪洞廣勝寺有一尊紅彩泥塑天
also well modelled in brownish-red with a scowling, theatrical 王像，身體保存完整，面部肌理及神態相似，可資比較，見《中國寺觀
expression and a large domed forehead. He has bulging eyes 雕塑全集 3：遼金元寺觀造像》，黑龍江，2005 年，圖 186 號（圖一）。
inlaid with black glass pupils below bushy eyebrows. A wispy 宋代大足石窟內見有多尊類似大尺寸之石雕天王造像，並出版於《大足
beard, mustache and eyebrows are detailed in black against a 石刻雕塑全集—南山、石門山、石篆山等石窟卷》，重慶，1999 年，頁
brownish-red complexion. The hair is drawn up into a top-knot 19、69-72 及 98，圖版編號 20、72-75 及 104。
and his mouth wide open in a threatening shout.
Head painted in white: 19 ⅝ in. (50 cm.) high, 11 ⅛ in. (28 cm.) Paleo Labon Co., Ltd. 碳 14 測試報告編號 HK/RCPL/20/173 及 HK/
wide; head painted in red: 22 in. (56 cm.) high, 11 ¼ in. (28.6 cm.) RCPL/20/174 之結果分別與此拍品之兩件頭像定年相符。
wide, stands (2)
HK$480,000-600,000 US$63,000-78,000
PROVENANCE
Chang Wei-Hwa & Company, Taipei, acquired in the 1980s
These heads are remarkable for their dramatic expressions. Compare
to a guardian figure retaining the original body, similarly modelled in
stucco and painted in red, preserved in the Guangsheng Temple in
Hongdong county, Shanxi province, illustrated in Zhongguo siguan
diaosu quanji – 3- Lioa Jin Yuan siguan zaoxiang, Heilongjiang, 2005, no.
186 (fig. 1).
Compare also to a number of large stone guardian figures carved with
similar grimace and bulging eyes below a furrowed brow, dating to
either the Northern Song or Southern Song dynasty, illustrated in Dazu
shike diaosu quanji-Nanshan, Shimenshan, Shizhuanshan den shiku
juan (The Complete Collection of the Stone of Sculpture of Dazu),
Chongqing, 1999, pp. 19, 69-72 and 98, pls. 20, 72-75 and 104.
The results of the C14 test from Paleo Labon Co., Ltd. sample numbers
HK/RCPL/20/173 and HK/RCPL/20/174 are consistent with the
dating of the two stucco heads respectively.

fig. 1 A stucco guardian figure in Guangsheng Temple, Shanxi
圖一 山西廣勝寺內泥塑天王像

4