A GILT LACQUERED WOOD FIGURE OF JUICHIMEN KANNON, MUROMACHI

A GILT LACQUERED WOOD FIGURE OF JUICHIMEN KANNON, MUROMACHI
Japan, 16th century, late Muromachi period (1338-1573)
Finely carved, the four-armed bodhisattva clothed clasping two hands in mida no jouin (dhyana mudra) and holding an alms bowl, clothed in voluminous robes falling in elegant folds and opened at the chest. Kannon's face set with a serene expression with heavy-lidded eyes, a circular rock crystal byakugo (urna) flanked by sinuous brows, butterfly lips, and long pendulous lobes. The head adorned with an eleven-headed crown with a metal inlay and crested by a circular rock crystal finial.
HEIGHT 33.3 cm (excl. stand), 39.5 cm (incl. stand)
Condition: Good condition, commensurate with age, with wear, losses, some flaking, light scratches, small nicks, expected age cracks, presenting overall very well.
Provenance:
Kunsthaus Lempertz, 12 June 1993, lot 1155. From a private collection in Germany. An old label to the base, 'Japan Senju Kannon Bosatsu.' Copy of the old invoice from Kunsthaus Lempertz, dated 14 June 1993 and listing the sale price of DEM 10,580, accompanies this lot.
Mounted on a wood base.
Juichimen Kannon (lit. 'eleven-headed Kannon')
, is an important bodhisattva in the Esoteric schools of Buddhism. Atop the deity's own head are eleven additional heads. Ten of these take the form of bodhisattvas and represent the ten stages toward enlightenment. The topmost head is that of Amida (Sanskrit: Amitabha), the Buddha from whom Kannon emanates.
Auction comparison:
Compare a related figure of Juichimen Kannon, dated to the 16th century, at Christie's, Asobi: Ingenious Creativity, Japanese Works of Art from Antiquity to Contemporary and Ceramics from the Collection of Bernard Leach, 15 October 2013, London, lot 11
(sold for GBP 18,750)
.