Coco Li
Cataloguer / Sale Coordinator, Chinese Works of Art
Lot 12W
A LARGE AND IMPRESSIVE MING GILT BRONZE FIGURE OF WEITUO 16th/17th century
14 December 2023, 17:00 EST
New YorkSold for US$432,300 inc. premium
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Dessa Goddard
Senior Vice President, US Head, Asian Art Group
Michael Hughes
Vice President and Head of Department
I-Hsuan Chen
Senior Specialist
A LARGE AND IMPRESSIVE MING GILT BRONZE FIGURE OF WEITUO
16th/17th century
The Buddhist guardian deity standing with hands held in anjali mudra, with youthful face gazing forward intently below a winged helmet centered by a moon and clouds at the forehead and topped with a red-pigmented tassel, wearing exceedingly finely cast ornate chain-mail armor secured with ribboned sashes that encircle the head and drape around the body to the feet, further adorned with ferocious mythical beast masks at the epaulettes, sleeves, leggings and the belt at the waist, extensively detailed and gilt.
31in (78.7cm) high, wood base
The Buddhist guardian deity standing with hands held in anjali mudra, with youthful face gazing forward intently below a winged helmet centered by a moon and clouds at the forehead and topped with a red-pigmented tassel, wearing exceedingly finely cast ornate chain-mail armor secured with ribboned sashes that encircle the head and drape around the body to the feet, further adorned with ferocious mythical beast masks at the epaulettes, sleeves, leggings and the belt at the waist, extensively detailed and gilt.
31in (78.7cm) high, wood base
Footnotes
明 十六/十七世紀 大件鎏金銅韋陀立像
Weituo (or Skanda 塞建陀, 室建陀) deva is regarded as a protector of the Buddhist law. When seen paired with Guan Yu (關羽), the historical general in his guise as a heavenly protector, he wears full armor and stands opposite him on the right of the main Buddha image, carrying a weapon, held with point downward and supported against his shoulder, or laid across his arms. Here in the current lot, he has no weapon, and holds his hands together in anjali mudra. In his war-like pose, he is often recorded as a manifestation of Vajrapani, as both figures wield vajras as weapons. For a parcel gilt-copper figure of Weituo, of Ming dynasty date, shown in the same pose in the Guangji temple in Xicheng district, Beijing, see Liao Pin and Wang Tianxing, Ancient Temples in Beijing, Beijing, 1995, p. 127.
For another similar very large gilt bronze figure see Christie's London, 21 April 1986, lot 254 and similarly dated. Compare also a large gilt-bronze figure of Weituo in the collection of the Seattle Art Museum, Seattle, illustrated by Hugo Munsterberg, Chinese Buddhist Bronzes, Tokyo, 1967, pl. 94.
Another very similar though much smaller bronze figure with the hands held in anjali mudra was sold at Christie's New York, 23rd March 2011, lot 1632. A much smaller bronze figure (17 5/8 inches high) was offered at Sotheby's New York, 17 March 2021, lot 253. See also another figure of Weituo in glazed stoneware said to be from Henan province and dated to 1527 exhibited in the Linden-Museum - Stuttgart, Germany, see wikipedia.org/wiki/Skanda_(Buddhism)#/media/File:Weituo_(Veda).
See related figures sold at Christie's New York, 30 May, 1991, lot 9; and 2 June 1994, lot 68; 20 March 2001, lot 95; and a bronze image dated to 1640 sold at Christie's Hong Kong, 31 May, 2010, lot 1965.
The present figure is a stunning example of the superb casting and fire gilding associated with the best of Late Ming craftsmanship.
