SUI/EARLY TANG DYNASTY, 6TH-7TH CENTURY

Details

A SMALL GILT-BRONZE GUARDIAN FIGURE
SUI/EARLY TANG DYNASTY, 6TH-7TH CENTURY
The guardian is shown standing triumphantly on the shoulders of a seated demon as he brandishes a spear in his raised left hand, and rests his right hand on his hip. He wears a sash-tied tunic that is partially tucked in leaving his chest and right arm bare, and a helmet with fluttering ribbons. A small pierced attachment tab projects from the base. There is extensive gilding remaining.
3½ in. (9 cm.) high, Japanese wood box, wood stand

Provenance

Exhibited Izumi City Kuboso Memorial Museum, Gilt Bronze Buddha in Sui-Tang Dynasty, 3 October - 28 November 1993.

Exhibited

Izumi City Kuboso Memorial Museum, Gilt Bronze Buddha in Sui-Tang Dynasty, 3 October - 28 November 1993, no. 245.

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Lot Essay

Compare the small gilt-bronze figure of a guardian, standing in a similar position on the shoulders of a crouching demon, which is dated to the Tang dynasty, and wears more ornate armor, illustrated by S. Matsubara in Chuugoku Bukkyo Chokokushi Ron, vol. 3, Tang, Five Dynasties, Song and Daoism Sculpture, Tokyo, 1995, pl. 669(a). See, also, the related figure, dated to the Tang dynasty, illustrated in Fojiao Diaosu Mingpin Tulu, Beijing, 1997, p. 552, no. 529.

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