J.J. Lally & Co., Oriental Art / New York City, New York
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ELEGANTLY MADE: Art for the Chinese Literati
March 13-27, 2020
24.
AN IMPERIAL BOXWOOD CARVING OF MANJUSHRI
SEATED ON A LION
Qianlong Period, dated by inscription to 1761
the Bodhisattva of Transcendent Wisdom manifested as an arhat, shown holding a rosary, seated in a contemplative attitude on a lotus-form cushion resting on the back of a large guardian lion with finely detailed long mane and bushy tail, draped with a fringed saddle blanket carved with formal lotus blooms and foliage, standing placidly with head turned towards a bearded foreign attendant with curly hair grasping the lion’s collar hung with three bells, the group assembled on an integral platform base of swirling clouds, the underside with a narrow border of clouds framing a lengthy testimony by the Qianlong Emperor praising Manjushri incised in clerical script filled with blue pigment, signed: 乾隆辛巳御贊 (Encomium by Qianlong in the Xinsi year), corresponding to 1761, followed by one red-filled seal of the emperor: 古香 (Ancient Fragrance), the tan-brown wood with darker patination in the recesses, highlighting the details, fitted zitan stand.
Height 3 7⁄8 inches (10 cm)
Provenance
Sotheby Parke Bernet, New York, Fine Chinese Jades and Works of Art, 28 February, 1980, lot 42
From the collection of Timothy Lewis (1937-2004), Melplash Court, Dorset
Duke’s Fine Art Auctions, Dorset, Melplash Court Sale, 23 September 2010, lot 1206
Shuisongshi Shanfang Collection
The inscription on the underside of the base was written by the Qianlong Emperor specifically for this sculpture. The text is recorded in the 御製文初集 Yuzhiwen chuji (Initial Collection of Imperial Literary Works), 1763, juan 30:13a, under the title 木刻文殊像贊 Muke Wenshu xiang zan (Encomium for a Carved Wooden Image of Manjushri). It reads:
是法王子 即法王身 非一非二 何疏何親
如是現象 據師子背 不見一法 千古無對
五臺示迹 國清留踪成所作
智妙應無窮 扶寸非小 丈六非大
住世度人云何不可
and may be translated as:
This is the Prince of the Dharma, that is, the body of the Dharma King, which is never just one [has manifold phenomenological manifestations] nor yet can it be two [is only one in essence], so there is no question as to whether this is a distant or close likeness. In such a phenomenological manifestation as this apprehended as perched on a lion’s back we do not see a true manifestation, for throughout ancient and modern times never has a true equivalent ever been made. However, this particular one was made after a manifestation that appeared at Mount Wutai and one that took form and was handed down at the Guoqing Temple. What the marvel of cognition can make of such manifestations is infinite in scope. Though only four fingers wide, it is not too small, and for a transformation body the height of a hand’s span, it is not too tall, so how can people who live just in this world reckon that it is not done well!
A very similar sculptural group of Manjushri on a lion with foreign attendant carved from chenxiangmu in the collection of the Palace Museum, Beijing is illustrated in Zhongguo meishu fenlei quanji, Zhongguo zhu, mu, ya, jiao qi quanji (Compendium of Chinese Art: Chinese Carving of Bamboo, Wood, Ivory, and Horn), Vol. 2, Beijing, 2009, no. 68, also carved with an encomium by the Qianlong Emperor on the underside of the cloud-form base.
A large silk embroidery panel of this subject, depicting Manjushri manifested as an arhat sitting at ease on a ‘luohan bed’, with a blue lion and two foreign attendants waiting down the steps, is illustrated in Gugong cixiu zhan tulu (Special Exhibition on the Art of Embroidery in the National Palace Museum), Taipei, 1992, pp. 84-87, no. 28, together with another embroidered panel of the same scale depicting Samantabhadra (Puxian), also manifested as an arhat, pp. 88-91, no. 29, described as finest imperial embroidered works from the Qianlong period.
清乾隆 御製黃楊木雕文殊騎獅像 高 10 厘米
御題「木刻文殊像贊」 「乾隆辛巳御贊」款 「古香」印
出處 紐約蘇富比帕克-博內 1980 年 2 月 28 日，拍品第 42 號
英國 Melplash Court，Dorset 郡，Timothy Lewis (1937-2004) 舊藏
英國 Duke’s Fine Art Auctions，2010 年 9 月 23 日，拍品第 1206 號
Additional Images (Touch to enlarge)
24.
AN IMPERIAL BOXWOOD CARVING OF MANJUSHRI
SEATED ON A LION
Qianlong Period, dated by inscription to 1761
Height 3 7⁄8 inches (10 cm)