A RARE GILT-BRONZE FIGURE OF TIANPENG YUANSHUAI

Estimated Value:

4.000 € - 6.000 €

Result:

incl. Premium and VAT

Description:

China, Ming dynasty, 17th c.
H. 32,5 cm (ohne Stand)
Standing in martial posture with both feet slightly apart, his eight arms radiating around his body with each hand holding a different attribute, wearing dhoti secured with a ribbon knotted to the front, cape draped over his shoulders with the stream ers encircling the arms and its finials falling down along his body, both incised with a floral design, his three faced-head topped with another head, all displaying a ferocious expression with protruding eyes below raised bushy eyebrows, pouting lips and his hairdo combed backwards showing just some raising curls. Mounted on a wood stand.
Collection J.C. Hans, Bruxelles, bought according to his records 12.12.1983 at Gallery Falmange in Brussels
The Grand Marshall Tianpeng is part of the Daoist group of deities known as the Four Saints (sisheng), alongside Zhenwu, Hei sha, and Tianyou Yuanshuai. Beginning in the 12th century, the practice of their worship was codified as the Great Rites of Youthful Incipience (Tongchu data), based in part on earlier practices such as the Six Dynasties-era Shangging (Highest Clarity) scriptures. Prior to the Song dynasty, Tianpeng Yuanshuai was considered the leader of the Four Saints, and to invoke his powers through incantation was a potent method to exorcise ghosts and demons. The Tang period Taishang Dongyuan Beidi Tianpeng huming xiaozai shenzhou miaojing (Marvelous Book of Divine Incantations of Tianpeng, for Protecting Life and Abolishing Disasters, a Most High Dongyuan Canon Spoken by the Emperor of the North) was a rite meant to save faithful devotees from apocalypse. By the Ming dynasty, Tianpeng had become an attendant figure to Zhenwu, the Perfected Warrior,Emperor of the North, and the most popular deity of Daoism. While the early Ming emperorssupported the Three Teachings (Confucianism, Buddhism, and Daoism), they were personally invested in the worship of Zhenwu. The Hongwu Emperor commanded that sacrifice be made to the god on his birthday and ascension to heaven, and the Yongle Emperor attributed his successful usurpation of his nephew, the Jianwen Emperor, to his worship of Zhenwu. As a result, he ordered the construction of the massive Zixiao Gong temple on Wudang Shan and elevated its importance to the most significant of the Five Sacred Peaks. Furthermore, when he moved the capital from Nanjing to Beijing, the Yongle Emperor erected a temple to Zhenwu on the northern-most axis of the Forbidden Palace. Under the support of the emperors, Daoism reached its peak during the Ming dyn asty and surpassed Buddhism in popularity. As the marshal of the 36 generals that protect Zhenwu, Tianpeng Yuanshuai would have been well-represented in the Daoist temples of the Ming dynasty. While his appearance varies slightly, he is most often represented with three or four faces, multi-armed, dressed in armor or military garb, and holding an array of weapons and implements, which he uses to destroy demons and ghosts. These include the sword, halberd, flaming wheel, mirror, seal, bell, sun and moon, coiled rope, and carpenter’s seal, some of which are present in the current figure. Perhaps because of their comparable functions, Tianpeng is depicted similarly to Buddhist Guardian or Wisdom Kings (Skt. Vidhyaraja, Ch: mingwang). Comparable depictions of Tianpeng Yuanshuai from this period can be seen in Ming-era murals, including those housed at the Royal Ontario Museum as well as at the Yongle gong temple in Shanxi province (see K. Tsang, Beyond Clouds and Waves: Daoist Paintings in the Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto, 2013, p. 53, fig. I-36). Tianpeng Yuanshuai in similar guise is also found in an album of Daoist and Buddhist deities from the Southern Song dynasty, now at the Cleveland Museum of Art (2004.1.11) - Minor wear, slightly chipped

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