A gilt-bronze figure of a lokapala, Tang dynasty

Collection of Mr. Samuel H. Minkenhof (1879-1956).

Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Ivan B. (1904-1978) Hart.

Christie's New York, 2nd December 1993, lot 197 (part lot).

Collection of Hugo Munsterberg (1918-1996).

Ancient Chinese Bronze Vessels, Gilt Bronzes and Sculptures; Two Private Collections, One Formerly Part of the Minkenhof Collection, Eskenazi Ltd., London, 1977, cat. no. 20.

Hugo Munsterberg, Chinese Buddhist Bronzes, Tokyo, 1967, pl. 90.

The present figure is a fine example of the rounded volumes and convincing suggestion of body weight and movement characteristic of the Tang-dynasty sculptural style. Well cast with the dramatic swayed-hip posture and exaggerated physical features meant to frighten sickness and evil spirits away, the present lokapala would originally have formed part of a portable votive altar set.

Compare a related series of four small gilt-bronze lokapala figures, illustrated in Matsubara Saburo, Chinese Buddhist Sculpture, Tokyo, 1996, pl. 254a-d; and one cast with a long club-vajra, excavated from Xi'an in Hebei province, ibid., p. 297, fig. 264. See also a closely related Tang dynasty gilt-bronze lokapala sold in these rooms, 16th September 2009, lot 123.