24th Jul, 2025 11:00
Three-Day Auction: Asian Art Discoveries
80
A WOOD FIGURE OF DARUMA, MUROMACHI PERIOD
Sold for €1,300
including Buyer's Premium
Japan, 14th-16th century, Muromachi period (1336-1573)
Of yosegi (joined) construction, well carved to depict Daruma (Bodhidharma) seated in dhyanasana on a rectangular plinth, the Zen patriarch enveloped in a monastic robe opening at the chest and cascading in richly carved folds, hanging over the plinth, his square face finely modeled with downcast eyes inlaid in inside-painted crystal and bow-shaped lips forming a gentle smile.
HEIGHT 30.5 cm
Condition: Good condition with old wear, few minute chips and tiny losses, minor signs of insect activity, base with natural age splits, the figure with few faint age cracks and traces of old glue residue between the separately carved elements.
Provenance: From an old private collection in Tessin, Switzerland.
Bodhidharma was the Indian monk credited with transmitting Zen Buddhism to China in the 400s or 500s. He is thus worshipped widely as the patriarch of Zen.
Yosegi-zukuri, or joined woodblock construction, is a sculpting method in which several rectangular blocks of wood are individually selected and carved into shapes. Yosegi-zukuri, together with ichiboku-zukuri (single block construction), are the two main techniques associated with wood sculpture in Japan. There were several advantages to a sculpture made from multiple blocks of wood. It was much lighter than one carved out of a single block of wood. The technique also helped to minimize the cracking of the wood caused by the outside layer drying faster than the core of the sculpture.
Museum comparison:
Compare a related wood figure of Bodhidharma, 58.4 cm high, dated to the 14th century, formerly in the collection of Mary Burke Griggs and now in the Minneapolis Institute of Art, accession number 2015.79.268.
Japan, 14th-16th century, Muromachi period (1336-1573)
Of yosegi (joined) construction, well carved to depict Daruma (Bodhidharma) seated in dhyanasana on a rectangular plinth, the Zen patriarch enveloped in a monastic robe opening at the chest and cascading in richly carved folds, hanging over the plinth, his square face finely modeled with downcast eyes inlaid in inside-painted crystal and bow-shaped lips forming a gentle smile.
HEIGHT 30.5 cm
Condition: Good condition with old wear, few minute chips and tiny losses, minor signs of insect activity, base with natural age splits, the figure with few faint age cracks and traces of old glue residue between the separately carved elements.
Provenance: From an old private collection in Tessin, Switzerland.
Bodhidharma was the Indian monk credited with transmitting Zen Buddhism to China in the 400s or 500s. He is thus worshipped widely as the patriarch of Zen.
Yosegi-zukuri, or joined woodblock construction, is a sculpting method in which several rectangular blocks of wood are individually selected and carved into shapes. Yosegi-zukuri, together with ichiboku-zukuri (single block construction), are the two main techniques associated with wood sculpture in Japan. There were several advantages to a sculpture made from multiple blocks of wood. It was much lighter than one carved out of a single block of wood. The technique also helped to minimize the cracking of the wood caused by the outside layer drying faster than the core of the sculpture.
Museum comparison:
Compare a related wood figure of Bodhidharma, 58.4 cm high, dated to the 14th century, formerly in the collection of Mary Burke Griggs and now in the Minneapolis Institute of Art, accession number 2015.79.268.
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