A LARGE LACQUER-GILT WOOD FIGURE OF AMIDA NYORAI
A RARE AND LARGE LACQUER-GILT WOOD FIGURE OF A SEATED AMIDA NYORAI WITH SHITENNO
Japan, 18th century, Edo period (1615-1868)
Finely carved seated in dhyanasana on a separately carved lotus dais fitted to an elaborately carved hexagonal stepped base, decorated with lotus leaf and lappets, floral scroll, the Shochikubai (Three Friends of Winter: bamboo, pine, and plum), swirling clouds, and four shishi with brocade balls, representing the Four Heavenly Kings (Shitenno), each of whom watches over one cardinal direction of the world.
Amida's hands are held in raigou-in mudra, welcoming the dead into his Pure Land. He is wearing a loose-fitting robe cascading in voluminous folds, opening at the chest, and finely decorated in gold takamaki-e with foliate and diapered designs. His serene face with heavy-lidded eyes below gently arched eyebrows centered by a glass or rock crystal byakugo (urna), a broad nose, and full lips, flanked by long pendulous pierced earlobes. The hair arranged in tight curls and surmounted by an ushnisha with a red glass inlay.
The separately carved kohai (aureole) with five small, individually carved, seated Buddhas, with Dainichi Nyorai (Vairocana) top center, amid swirling clouds and with a central stylized floral-sun design.
HEIGHT 66 cm (total) and 21.5 cm (the figure)
Condition: Good condition with old wear, minor crackling to edges, small nicks, light scratches, few minor losses, some flaking to lacquer, the aureole with few minor natural age cracks. Possibly small old repairs and minor touchups.
Provenance: Christian Magnier, Japon Antique, Paris, 16 March 2008. Jane and Robert Coppenrath, acquired from the above. A copy of a handwritten expertise, signed by Christian Magnier, dated 16 March 2008, and dating the figure to c. 1750-1800, accompanies this lot. Jane (d. 2020) and Robert Coppenrath (d. 2017) were collectors of Japanese, African, and Inuit art based in Montreal. Jane, a native of the United Kingdom, and Robert, a native of France, began their careers in Canada in the early 1970s. Robert owned an antiques shop while Jane worked in an art gallery. They were avid travelers and adventurers, with visits to antique shops in Brussels, art galleries in Paris and Berlin, and antique vendors in Bombay, Bangkok, and Tokyo, among others.
Auction comparison:
Compare a closely related gilt-lacquered wood figure of a seated Amida, measuring 77 cm, but lacking the Shitenno, dated 18th century, at Christie's, Japanese and Korean Art, 14 December 2016, Paris, lot 87 (sold for 68,500 USD).
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A RARE AND LARGE LACQUER-GILT WOOD FIGURE OF A SEATED AMIDA NYORAI WITH SHITENNO
Japan, 18th century, Edo period (1615-1868)
Finely carved seated in dhyanasana on a separately carved lotus dais fitted to an elaborately carved hexagonal stepped base, decorated with lotus leaf and lappets, floral scroll, the Shochikubai (Three Friends of Winter: bamboo, pine, and plum), swirling clouds, and four shishi with brocade balls, representing the Four Heavenly Kings (Shitenno), each of whom watches over one cardinal direction of the world.
Amida's hands are held in raigou-in mudra, welcoming the dead into his Pure Land. He is wearing a loose-fitting robe cascading in voluminous folds, opening at the chest, and finely decorated in gold takamaki-e with foliate and diapered designs. His serene face with heavy-lidded eyes below gently arched eyebrows centered by a glass or rock crystal byakugo (urna), a broad nose, and full lips, flanked by long pendulous pierced earlobes. The hair arranged in tight curls and surmounted by an ushnisha with a red glass inlay.
The separately carved kohai (aureole) with five small, individually carved, seated Buddhas, with Dainichi Nyorai (Vairocana) top center, amid swirling clouds and with a central stylized floral-sun design.
HEIGHT 66 cm (total) and 21.5 cm (the figure)
Condition: Good condition with old wear, minor crackling to edges, small nicks, light scratches, few minor losses, some flaking to lacquer, the aureole with few minor natural age cracks. Possibly small old repairs and minor touchups.
Provenance: Christian Magnier, Japon Antique, Paris, 16 March 2008. Jane and Robert Coppenrath, acquired from the above. A copy of a handwritten expertise, signed by Christian Magnier, dated 16 March 2008, and dating the figure to c. 1750-1800, accompanies this lot. Jane (d. 2020) and Robert Coppenrath (d. 2017) were collectors of Japanese, African, and Inuit art based in Montreal. Jane, a native of the United Kingdom, and Robert, a native of France, began their careers in Canada in the early 1970s. Robert owned an antiques shop while Jane worked in an art gallery. They were avid travelers and adventurers, with visits to antique shops in Brussels, art galleries in Paris and Berlin, and antique vendors in Bombay, Bangkok, and Tokyo, among others.
Auction comparison:
Compare a closely related gilt-lacquered wood figure of a seated Amida, measuring 77 cm, but lacking the Shitenno, dated 18th century, at Christie's, Japanese and Korean Art, 14 December 2016, Paris, lot 87 (sold for 68,500 USD).
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Time, Location
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