Page 143 - Sothebys Important Chinese Art 09/13/17

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A LARGE CARVED WOOD FIGURE OF
ANANDA
MING DYNASTY

nely carved standing upright, with hands joined in
anjalimudra, attired in owing long-sleeved monk’s robes,
draped with a kashaya fastened over one shoulder with a loop
and hook tied with chords, the full face with downcast eyes and
reverent expression
Height 54 in., 137.2 cm

PROVENANCE
Collection of Walter L. Price (1936-2014), San Francisco.

Ananda was one of Buddha’s rst cousins, and of all the
disciples, had the most retentive memory. Most of the sutras in
the rst part of the Pali Canon are attributed to his recollection
of Buddha’s teachings during the First Buddhist Council.

In the Chan Buddhist tradition, Kasyapa, another of Buddha’s
principal disciples, is considered the rst Indian patriarch, and
Ananda the second. The pair are often portrayed on either side
of the Buddha. This arrangement is commonly found in caves
in China dating from the Northern Wei dynasty (386-535), with
Ananda standing to Buddha’s right and Kasyapa to the left,
as seen in the Central Binyang Cave at Longmen, illustrated
in Angela Falco Howard, Li Song, Wu Hung and Yang Hong,
Chinese Sculpture, New Haven, 2006, p. 238, g. 3.39. This
standard iconographic arrangement continued through the
Sui, Tang, Liao and Song periods, to the Ming dynasty.

$ 30,000-50,000

Walter L Price 1936 2014