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Lot
Number
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B000026 |
| Lot
Title |
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Chinese Gilt Bronze Figure of a Bodhisattva,Ksitigarbha (Manjusri) |
| Date
of Origin |
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Ming Dyansty |
| Country
of Origin |
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China |
| Material
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Bronze |
| Measurements |
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19.5x10 (5x12) cm |
| Lot
Quantity |
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2 |
| Estimate |
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| Description:
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Quite boring in ShenZhen by myself, so I went browsing around ShenZhen Antique Market. However, very seldom I can find good stuff with reasonable price in there.
Met with this Mr. Chiu, also came from Taiwan, ran an antique shop in ShenZhen and was doing textile business before retiring. Very nice and generous guy, and kept offering me tea, fruit, but just smoked too much. He has many kind of Buddha collections, including bronze, wooden, stone, and even porcelain. Most of them were collected decades ago in either Taiwan or China. I noticed one small figure of Samantabhadra, price offered was reasonable and I thought that is great, must be my lucky day. I selected several pieces together and was hoping the price would be even better with this package deal. The owner saw I like Buddha very much and really care about them, so offered me a great deal to make a friend with me. I advised him not to smoke too much, and I could bring two bottles of red wine to him when I see him next time. He was very happy about that and kept smiling.
I bought this Manjusri together with other three Buddha. Made of bronze, has strong Mainland Buddha style. The image is very primitive simplicity, standard Ming Dynasty folks art, the whole body reflects clear reddish bronze rusty and tells you the age of this Buddha. Later on, the owner sold me another small bronze Figure of Samantabhadra. I now have both Manjusri and Samantabhadra together, what a great pleasure. I imagined that could because the seated Guanyin (lot 24) I bought earlier brings me good luck, and let me find these great Buddha.
This image is seated in the vajraparyankasana on a double lotus pedestal with beaded borders, wearing five-leaved crown fastened by a ribbon with swirling ends, Bound hair falling down to the shoulder, a pair of circular earrings, and with necklace, bracelets on the upper arms, wrists, and ankles. Both eyes looking down, and showing an appearance of benevolent face and serene expression. Left hand holds a bowl, and shows in the mudra of meditation (dhyana-mudra), while right hand shows mudra of teaching (Dharmachakra-Mudra). The large pedestal has one small and lovely lion stands still in the center, the symbol of Manjusri. Her upper body is dressed in a double-collar rope incised with delicate design and covering both shoulders, while the rope also draping down naturally to lower body, adorned with multiple jeweled necklace, and limbs with bracelets, very real and realistic.
Postscript 1: Bought one sandalwood stand and neatly put Manjusri statue on it, much enhance the vigor of the statue.
Postscript 2: Met Mr. Chang in a show place, very young guy, but is very aggressive in collecting Buddha and has great knowledge about Buddhism. He happened to see this buddha, and I said it should be Manjusri, but he had some hold back. Finally, he shouted out and said, Ah, I have figured out, it should be Ksitigarbha, I said cannot be, but he pointed out the Buddha is holding a Mani bead in her left hand, and one celestial beast Di Ting lies in front, so this is definitely a Ksitigarbha Statue.
I then checked the information further online, and very much agreed with his saying. I previously misjudged the lying beast was a lion, and then thought this was Manjusri. Finally, got the truth, very happy, and right away wrote it done and made the correction, so to return the glory of the Buddha, and thank Mr. Changs sharing. |
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| Condition
and Additional Specification: |
The bronze is in an excellent state of preservation. While the high points of the gilding are somewhat rubbed, as can easily be seen in the photos, most of the original gilding remains. The details are incised and well delineated. There is some minor encrustation under the base which was left un-gilt, and on the recessed areas in the back of the sculpture.
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