Edward Luper
Specialist, Chinese Works of Art
Lot 110
A rare gilt-bronze figure of Guandi on a 'nine-dragon and garuda' throne 17th/18th century
10 November 2016, 10:30 GMT
London, New Bond StreetSold for £371,000 inc. premium
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A rare gilt-bronze figure of Guandi on a 'nine-dragon and garuda' throne
17th/18th century
Finely cast with a wrathful expression below the dragon coronet, the God of War dressed with long flowing robe finely incised with roundels of stylised kui dragons, revealing the armour underneath at the chest, his right hand raised to grasp his long beard, seated upright on a separate horse shoe-back throne draped with a tiger-skin rug, the rail formed with six coiling horned dragons striding amidst scrolling clouds, raising to a front-facing dragon at the centre surmounted by a riding garuda with wings spread. 23.2cm (9 1/8in) high (2).
Finely cast with a wrathful expression below the dragon coronet, the God of War dressed with long flowing robe finely incised with roundels of stylised kui dragons, revealing the armour underneath at the chest, his right hand raised to grasp his long beard, seated upright on a separate horse shoe-back throne draped with a tiger-skin rug, the rail formed with six coiling horned dragons striding amidst scrolling clouds, raising to a front-facing dragon at the centre surmounted by a riding garuda with wings spread. 23.2cm (9 1/8in) high (2).
Footnotes
十七/十八世紀 銅鎏金關聖帝君坐九龍椅造像
Provenance: an Irish private collection, and thence by descent
來源：愛爾蘭私人收藏，並由後人保存迄今
Guandi, the deified form of Guan Yu, the historical hero living during the late second to early third century AD, acquired great popularity in later times, when his exploits were dramatised in oral tales and novels such as the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, compiled during the Ming dynasty. Guan Yu's support of the Han warlord Liu Bei's quest of continuing the Han state in Shu (present-day Sichuan province) earned him the reputation of an exemplary model of faithfulness and reliance. The God was also worshipped as protector of merchants, and shrines dedicated to him were known as Temples of Literature and Martial Arts, wenwu miao.
Surviving examples of bronze figures of Guandi seated on such elaborate thrones, such as the present example, are rare. However, a related figure of Guandi seated on a horse shoe-backed throne, 17th-18th century, was illustrated in the exhibition catalogue of The Oriental Art Gallery, London, 1994, no.30; another comparable gilt-bronze figure of Guandi, 17th century, was sold at Christie's New York on 17-18 March 2016, lot 1423.