A RARE GILT AND POLYCHROME WOOD FIGURE OF JIZO BOSATSU

A RARE GILT AND POLYCHROME WOOD FIGURE OF JIZO BOSATSU
Japan, 13th-14th century, Kamakura period (1185-1333)
Finely carved, the bodhisattva standing on a double lotus dais with beaded rim raised on a naturalistically carved rockwork base supported on a tiered rectangular pedestal carved with diapered floral and rinzu designs. He is dressed in a long flowing robe applied with gilt and colored pigments as well as an ornamental necklace suspending small beads. He is holding the hoju (treasure jewel) in his left hand and the shakujo (staff) suspending loose rings in his right. His serene face with heavy-lidded eyes below gently arched brows centered by a crystal-inlaid byakugo (urna). The lotus dais is inset with a flattened post surmounted by a metal halo applied with three metal foliate elements.
HEIGHT 33.2 cm
Condition: Good condition with some wear, minor age cracks, minor flaking and small losses to lacquer and pigments, few tiny losses, one foot restored.
Provenance:
Kyoto Gallery, Brussels, 2000. Liliane and Michel Durand-Dessert, Paris, acquired from the above. Liliane and Michel Durand-Dessert were luminous gallery owners who worked in Paris from 1975 to 2004, and were both informed and avant-garde collectors. They are significant not only because of the analytical and original approach the couple applied in each acquisition, but also because of their visionary take on exhibiting the most radical 20th-century art in their gallery, which was the subject of a 2004 retrospective organized by the Museum of Grenoble. According to Michel Durand-Dessert, who was inspired to open the couple's first gallery by a visit to Documenta in 1968, “it is certain that a collection is a portrait, and that the objects we buy are those in which we sometimes recognize ourselves, sometimes we project ourselves. One way or another, acquiring them means adopting them, in every sense of the word.”
Jizo Bosatsu
(Ksitigarbha) has been worshipped since the Heian period, particularly as the protector of children. This bodhisattva is a merciful figure who alone among Buddhist deities moves through the six worlds of illusion in his role of saving all sentient beings. As in this example he is usually depicted as a monk with the hoju (treasure jewel) and shakujo, a staff with a finial of rings which jingle to warn small creatures of his approaching footfalls.
Museum comparison:
Compare a related gilt-decorated wood figure of Jizo dated to the Kamakura period, 13th century, 35.5 cm high, in the collection of the Freer Gallery of Art in the National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution, accession number F1965-19a-h. Compare a related gilt and polychrome wood figure of Jizo standing on a similar gilt double-lotus dais, dated to the 12th century, 88 cm high, in the Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek, Copenhagen, object number IN 2262.
Auction comparison:
Compare a related wood figure of Jizo Bosatsu, with the gilt and pigments mostly lost, dated Heian or Kamakura period, 12th century, 50.4 cm high, at Bonhams, 15 March 2017, New York, lot 6154 (
sold for 33,750 USD
).