† AN EARLY CARVED CYPRESS WOOD FIGURE OF AMIDA NYORAI, HEIAN PERIOD
Lot 159 - JPN1225

Japan, 10th-11th century, Heian period (794-1185)

Finely carved from a single block of cypress (hinoki) wood in ichiboku-zukuri, with traces of lacquer and gilding, standing in a classic Heian pose, with his right arm gently raised and left arm lowered in what was likely seppo-in (vitarka mudra). The figure clad in a loosely draped monastic robe that opens at the chest and cascades in voluminous folds over the abdomen, forming vertical pleats. The rounded face conveying a serene expression, distinguished by heavy-lidded, downcast eyes beneath gently arched brows, centered by a byakugo (urna), a broad nose, and full lips, all framed by long, pendulous earlobes. The hair carefully arranged in tight rounded forms over the high nikkei (ushnisha).

HEIGHT 37.7 cm (figure) and 42.8 cm (total)

Provenance: The private collection of Michael Phillips, acquired in 2015. Michael Phillips (born 1943) is an Academy Award-winning film producer. Born in Brooklyn, New York, his parents were Lawrence and Shirley Phillips, noted New York dealers in Asian fine arts, selling to the Met, the LACMA, the Chicago Art Institute, and the British Museum among others. Michael Phillips is a collector of Asian art himself, particularly Indian, Southeast Asian, and Himalayan sculpture. His most important films include The Sting (winning the Academy Award for Best Picture in 1973), Taxi Driver (winning the Palme d’Or at the 1976 Cannes Film Festival), and Steven Spielberg’s Close Encounters of the Third Kind.
Condition: Good condition, commensurate with age, with ancient wear and natural age-related imperfections. Obvious losses and signs of wood decay, mostly to lower back area. Extensive flaking to gilding and pigments, old fills and touchups, with residual traces of wax, all as expected from an ancient wood statue more than a thousand years old.

Auction comparison:
Compare a related carved wood figure of standing Amida Buddha, Heian period, 12th century, 64.5 cm high, at Christie’s, Japanese and Korean Art, 21 September 2006, New York, lot 224 (sold for USD 8,400 or approx. EUR 11,500 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing).