Shrine (zushi) with seated benten; circular nimbus with jewels; lotus and rock base

Description:

Japan, Edo period, 18th ct.
H. 32,3 cm (Schrein)
The eight-armed Benzaiten (also Kongo Myô Benzaiten) holds sword and jewel in the two main hands, bow and arrow, noose and key, lance and wheel in the side hands; on the head the deity Ugajin (also Hakuja) with snake body and human head. He is not only Benten's messenger but also her spiritual substance.
Benzaiten (Sanskrit: Sarasvati) is the goddess of music, eloquence and wealth. She is one of the Seven Goddesses of Fortune in Japan. Wood, coloured; shrine, gilded inside, lacquered black outside.
Private collection Rhineland, acquired 1999 in Japan
Cf. a very äsimilar shrine in the Musée Guimet, published in B. Frank, 'Le Panthéon bouddique au Japon, Collections d'Emile Guimet', Paris 1991, pp. 198-199, no. 117 - Traces of age