A PAINTING OF SHAKYAMUNI SURROUNDED BY BODHISATTVAS AND DISCIPLES, SONG TO MING DYNASTY
Lot 208 - HS0625

China, 960-1644, probably 15^th century or earlier. Gouache, watercolors, and ink on very fine silk, mounted on wood with a silk-brocade frame.

Depicting Shakyamuni at the center, backed by a radiating mandorla, flanked by Ksitigarbha and Guanyin, with Ananda and Mahakasyapa standing behind him to his right and left, followed by the Four Heavenly Kings. The margins with identifying Chinese inscriptions and a cyclical date.

Inscriptions: To the upper margin, ‘Ksitigarbha, Ananda, Shakyamuni, Mahakasyapa, Guanyin’. To the right margin, ‘Virudhaka, Vaisravana’. To the left margin, ‘Virupaksa, Dhrtarastra’. To the bottom margin, ‘[..] Nan Chunyou, born in the hour of Hai (between 9 and 11 pm), on the 10^th day of the 8^th month in the year of Yimao’, ‘May everything go well’, and ‘May all your wishes come true’.

Provenance: From a German private collection. A noted European private collection, acquired from the above.
Condition: Old wear, soiling, staining, creasing, losses to the pigments and canvas, tears, old repairs, touchups. The reverse with few tears.

Dimensions: Size 141.7 x 101.5 cm

The present painting was inspired by earlier depictions of Buddhist deities, like the ones seen in the Mogao grottoes at Dunhuang. Ming painters of Buddhist subjects sought to mimic the style of the Tang dynasty artist Wu Daozi, considered a master of Buddhist mural paintings. Examples of Ming paintings executed in the tradition of Wu are discussed in ‘Latter Days of the Law: Images of Chinese Buddhism 850-1850’ by Helen Foresman, Spencer Museum of Art, Kansas, 1995, pages 55 and 446.

Literature comparison:
Compare a related Chinese painting depicting Kshitigarbha worshipped by two bodhisattvas, dated to 963, found in Cave 17 of the Mogao Caves, now in the British Museum, registration number 1919,0101,0.19. Compare also a related Korean painting depicting Seokgamoni similarly surrounded by deities, guardians, and disciples, dated 18^th century, in the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, recently included in the exhibition ‘Korean Treasures from the Chester and Cameron Chang Collection’, 25 February-30 June 2024.