Japan, 19th century
The cylindrical shrine of gilt with hinged doors retaining a locker and gilt-metal fittings and pendants finely chased with foliate scroll against a punched ground, the pendants further decorated with beads and with bell ends, surmounted by a flaming glass sphere on a double lotus base finial. The shrine raised on an elaborate stepped circular base, with floral diaper patterns, scrolling clouds, ornamental reserves, and veiny lotus leaves. The interior with an additional cylindrical shrine containing a bronze figure of Kangiten, the pair of elephant-headed gods in an embrace, standing on a floral base. The shrine within bears a label with characters.
HEIGHT 55.5 cm
WEIGHT 3,903 g
Condition: Very good condition with some wear, flaking and minor losses to lacquer, small chips, tiny nicks, light surface scratches, possibly few minor touch-ups.
Literature comparison: See the Welt Museum, Vienna, for a related altar shrine, Inv. No. 21530. Note the similar glass finial.
Kangiten is a god (ten) venerated mainly in the Shingon and Tendai schools of Japanese Buddhism, and he is the Buddhist equivalent of the Hindu god Ganesha. The late Heian period saw the rise in popularity of the Dual-bodied Kangiten image, in which the ten is shown as an embracing male-female couple. It has been compared with the sexual yab-yum iconography found in Nepal and Tibet, although it is markedly different from them in that both figures have animal heads and are shown fully clothed.
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