10th Apr, 2025 11:00
TWO-DAY AUCTION: Fine Asian Art, Buddhism and Hinduism
46
A RARE GILT-BRONZE FIGURE OF TIANPENG YUANSHUAI, MING DYNASTY
Sold for €13,000
including Buyer's Premium
China, 1368-1644. The Daoist deity stands in a martial pose, holding various implements in his eight hands including a bell, a seal, a rope, and a pair of flaming wheels. Dressed in a dhoti with a geometric hem, secured by a bow to the front, a foliate incised shawl draped to the shoulders. The central face is flanked by two additional faces and surmounted by a third, all with stern visages marked by wide eyes below furrowed brows, and hair fashioned with flaming tufts.
Provenance: Gallery Falmange, Brussels, 12 December 1983 (invoice lost). Collection of J. C. Hans, Brussels, acquired from the above, and thence by descent. A copy of a handwritten letter, confirming the provenance, signed by J. C. Hans, Brussels, is accompanying this lot.
Condition: Very good condition with wear and casting irregularities. Scattered nicks and scratches and expected rubbing to gilt. The bronze with a naturally grown, dark patina.
Weight: 3,386 g (incl. stand)
Dimensions: Height 32.5 cm (excl. stand), 38 cm (incl. stand)
Mounted on a wood stand. (2)
Tianpeng Yuanshuai, or Grand Marshall Tianpeng, is part of the Daoist group of deities known as the Four Saints (sisheng), alongside Zhenwu, Heisha, and Tianyou Yuanshuai. He is most often represented with multiple faces and arms, holding in his hands an array of weapons and implements, which he uses to destroy demons and ghosts.
Literature comparison:
See an ink drawing of Tianpeng Yuanshai depicted holding similar attributes as in the present lot, leaf 11 of an album dated to the Southern Song dynasty in the Cleveland Museum of Art, accession number 2004.1.11. Further comparable depictions of Tianpeng Yuanshuai in Ming-era murals, including those housed at the Royal Ontario Museum as well as at the Yongle gong temple in Shanxi province, are illustrated by K. Tsang, Beyond Clouds and Waves: Daoist Paintings in the Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto, 2013, p. 53, fig. I-36.
Auction result comparison:
Type: Closely related
Auction: Christie’s Hong Kong, 30 May 2023, lot 3089
Price: HKD 491,400 or approx. EUR 64,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A rare large gilt-bronze figure of Tianyou Yuanshuai, Ming dynasty
Expert remark: Compare the closely related modeling, manner of casting, and gilding, with similar garb, facial expression, and attributes. Note the size (48.5 cm).
China, 1368-1644. The Daoist deity stands in a martial pose, holding various implements in his eight hands including a bell, a seal, a rope, and a pair of flaming wheels. Dressed in a dhoti with a geometric hem, secured by a bow to the front, a foliate incised shawl draped to the shoulders. The central face is flanked by two additional faces and surmounted by a third, all with stern visages marked by wide eyes below furrowed brows, and hair fashioned with flaming tufts.
Provenance: Gallery Falmange, Brussels, 12 December 1983 (invoice lost). Collection of J. C. Hans, Brussels, acquired from the above, and thence by descent. A copy of a handwritten letter, confirming the provenance, signed by J. C. Hans, Brussels, is accompanying this lot.
Condition: Very good condition with wear and casting irregularities. Scattered nicks and scratches and expected rubbing to gilt. The bronze with a naturally grown, dark patina.
Weight: 3,386 g (incl. stand)
Dimensions: Height 32.5 cm (excl. stand), 38 cm (incl. stand)
Mounted on a wood stand. (2)
Tianpeng Yuanshuai, or Grand Marshall Tianpeng, is part of the Daoist group of deities known as the Four Saints (sisheng), alongside Zhenwu, Heisha, and Tianyou Yuanshuai. He is most often represented with multiple faces and arms, holding in his hands an array of weapons and implements, which he uses to destroy demons and ghosts.
Literature comparison:
See an ink drawing of Tianpeng Yuanshai depicted holding similar attributes as in the present lot, leaf 11 of an album dated to the Southern Song dynasty in the Cleveland Museum of Art, accession number 2004.1.11. Further comparable depictions of Tianpeng Yuanshuai in Ming-era murals, including those housed at the Royal Ontario Museum as well as at the Yongle gong temple in Shanxi province, are illustrated by K. Tsang, Beyond Clouds and Waves: Daoist Paintings in the Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto, 2013, p. 53, fig. I-36.
Auction result comparison:
Type: Closely related
Auction: Christie’s Hong Kong, 30 May 2023, lot 3089
Price: HKD 491,400 or approx. EUR 64,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A rare large gilt-bronze figure of Tianyou Yuanshuai, Ming dynasty
Expert remark: Compare the closely related modeling, manner of casting, and gilding, with similar garb, facial expression, and attributes. Note the size (48.5 cm).
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