Catalog (57)

Gorinto (5-tiered stupa) beneath an overarching pediment sculpted in shallow relief from a gray-brown igneous stone. Momoyama/early-Edo Period ca. 1600. Very minor old loss, with overall softening of the lines and contours.

Height: 54 cm
Width: 23 cm
Depth: 14 cm
Packaged weight: 24 kg.

The gorinto is a distinctively Japanese style of stupa comprising five geometric forms corresponding to (from bottom) earth, water, fire, wind, and ethereal space. The Japanese Shingon sect of esoteric Buddhism views the gorinto as a symbol of Dai-Nichi Buddha, who, underlying all things, manifests himself in the five elements making up the physical world.

A handsome piece, elegantly sculpted and with significant age.

If placed outdoors, this stone can easily be inserted into the ground. For indoor display, it can be propped up against a wall or other form of lateral support.

Nyoirin Kannon Bosatsu in characteristic seated pose of royal ease, sculpted figurally from a gray-brown igneous stone. Mid-Edo Period ca. 1750. Excellent condition, with very minor old loss and overall softening of the lines and contours.

Height: 36 cm
Width: 27 cm
Depth: 20 cm
Packaged weight: 17 kg.

Standing Shomen Kongo (lit., Blue-faced Vajrapani) sculpted in relief from a gray-hued igneous stone. Mid-Edo Period ca. 1700. Very minor old loss. Light lichen accumulation and remnants of dried moss.

Height: 48.5 cm
Width: 28.5 cm
Depth: 19 cm
Packaged weight: 33 kg

In the Esoteric Buddhist tradition, Shomen Kongo is a fearsome deva believed to protect against disease. With six arms/hands holding various symbolic Esoteric attributes, three eyes of which one is vertical, a monkey-head crown piece, a skull necklace, and a fearsome scowl, this is a classic Shomen Kongo depiction, with one remarkable exception: the round-headed pointy-eared critter poking out from beneath the garment at a point between and above the knees. While such a crotch-critter is neither accounted for in the literature nor typically observed on Shomen Kongo depictions, it is reasonable to assume that it was intended to function as a special amulet against venereal disease.

A thoroughly intriguing rarity with extraordinary presence. Highly collectible.

Jizo Bosatsu head fragment sculpted from a solid piece of wood, with black-soot patination overall. Heian Period ca. 1100. Minor old professional repairs.

Overall height, including custom-made wooden base: 38 cm
Height of head only: 18 cm
Width: 12 cm
Depth: 16 cm

An extraordinary piece with serious age.

Standing Jizo Bosatsu, the hands forming the gassho adoration mudra, sculpted in relief from a brown-hued sedimentary stone, possibly chert. Mid-Edo Period ca. 1700. Minor old loss, with traces of polychrome and overall soot patination.

Height: 19.5 cm
Width: 12.5 cm
Depth: 5 cm
Packaged weight: 2 kg

Piece at left in first photo:
Height: 56.5 cm
Diameter of base: 23.5 cm
Packaged weight: 23 kg

Piece at right in first photo:
Height: 49.5 cm
Diameter of base: 20 cm
Packaged weight: 23 kg

Jizo Bosatsu and Amida Nyorai standing side by side, Jizo with hands forming the gassho adoration mudra and Amida with hands forming the Amida jo-in meditation mudra, sculpted in relief from a gray-hued volcanic stone. Late-Edo Period ca. 1800. Excellent condition, with only minor old loss.

Height: 42 cm
Width: 22 cm
Depth: 15 cm
Packaged weight: 20 kg

An uncommon stone.

Pair of Bodhisattvas on Clouds, each piece sculpted in ichiboku-zukuri from a single block of wood and finished in polychrome and gilt. Kamakura/Nanbokucho Period ca. 1400, possibly earlier. Old repairs and loss, with desirable patination overall.

Piece at left in first photo:
Height: 32 cm
Width: 17.5 cm
Depth: 4 cm

Piece at right in first photo (and featured in photos in this listing):
Height: 31.5 cm
Width: 15.5 cm
Depth: 5 cm

The final photo is of a Bodhisattva on Clouds in the Heian-Period National Treasure grouping of 52 such pieces at Kyoto's Byodo-in. The pair on offer herein hails from a similar, albeit later-period, grouping of Bodhisattvas on Clouds.

Uncommon and highly collectible.

Pair of Bodhisattvas on Clouds, each piece sculpted in ichiboku-zukuri from a single block of wood and finished in polychrome and gilt. Kamakura/Nanbokucho Period ca. 1400, possibly earlier. Old repairs and loss, with desirable patination overall.

Piece at left in first photo (and featured in photos in this listing):
Height: 32 cm
Width: 17.5 cm
Depth: 4 cm

Piece at right in first photo:
Height: 31.5 cm
Width: 15.5 cm
Depth: 5 cm

The final two photos are of Bodhisattvas on Clouds in the Heian-Period National Treasure grouping of 52 such pieces at Kyoto's Byodo-in. The pair on offer herein hails from a similar, albeit later-period, grouping of Bodhisattvas on Clouds.

Uncommon and highly collectible.

Two Jizo Bosatsu figures standing side by side with hands forming the gassho adoration mudra, sculpted in relief from a gray-hued volcanic stone. Mid-Edo Period ca. 1750. Very minor old loss.

Height: 24 cm
Width: 12.5 cm
Depth: 8.5 cm
Packaged weight: 4 kg.

Dosojin is the Japanese Shinto manifestation of a Chinese Taoist deity charged with guarding the border between this world and hell. Believed to obstruct the passage of evil spirits and gods of disease into human communities, Dosojin is associated particularly with roads, crossroads, mountain passes, village boundaries, and travel generally.

Because Jizo Bosatsu is Dosojin's honjibutsu, or Buddhist counterpart, Dosojin stones oftentimes take the form of two Jizo figures either standing or seated side by side.

A charming little Dosojin stone.

Standing Jizo Bosatsu, the hands forming the gassho mudra of adoration, sculpted figurally from a volcanic stone. Mid-Edo Period ca. 1700. Minor old loss and overall softening of the lines and contours, with a patch of white lichen around the left eye.

Height: 31 cm
Width: 15.5 cm
Depth: 11.5 cm
Packaged weight: 6 kg

A charmingly rough-hewn Jizo stone.

Wooden Jizo head fragment with traces of gesso-like ground, the eyes of sculpted wood, displayed on a wooden stand. Nanbokucho~early-Muromachi Period ca. 1400.

Height of fragment only: 20.1 cm
Overall height, including display stand: 27.8 cm

Gilt-wood fragment of a standing bosatsu, probably either a Kannon or Seishi, displayed on a polychromed-wood lotus-leaf-form dais. The fragment Kamakura Period ca. 1200, the dais of later manufacture ca. 1600.

Height of bosatsu fragment only: 54 cm
Overall height, including lotus-leaf-form dais: 66 cm

A sizable, elegantly sculpted fragment with significant age. Aesthetically pleasing and highly decorative.

Wooden Buddha head fragment, wari-kubi construction, apparently refinished in black lacquer and gilt, carved-wood eyes, with both urna and nikkei-shu of inset rock crystal. Late-Heian~early-Kamakura Period ca. 1200.

Height, including stand: 30 cm
Height of head only: 26.4 cm
Width: 13.5 cm
Depth: 14 cm

A handsomely classic Buddha head with significant age. Highly collectible.

Matched pair of cloud-form architectural elements, each piece sculpted from a single piece of wood, no finish, with two metallic hooks attached to the backside of each piece for wall display. Mid-Edo Period ca. 1750. Excellent condition and desirable patination.

Each piece with Height: 19 cm
Width: 47 cm

Pair of rectangular plaques sculpted from wood and finished in lacquer and gold leaf with natural-pigment paintings of Fugen Bosatsu on elephant mount and Monju Bosatsu on lion mount with the artist's signature and calligraphic seal, the back surfaces fitted for wall display. Late-Edo Period ca. 1800. Very minor old pigment loss.

Each plaque with Height: 32.8 cm
Width: 13.5 cm
Thickness: 1.7 cm

Highly decorative painted plaques of exceptional quality.

A triptych-style zushi (protective receptacle for Buddhist sculpture) in the form of a hoju (sacred jewel), sculpted in three parts from wood and finished in lacquer and gilt with decorative gilt-copper metalwork. Momoyama~early-Edo Period ca. 1600. Desirable patination overall, with minor old repairs.

Height 24.5 cm
Diameter of base: 16 cm

Standing Kannon Bosatsu fragment in patinated gilt-wood displayed upon a lotus-form mandorla originally placed behind the head of a large Buddhist sculpture, also in patinated gilt-wood. The Kannon fragment early-Edo Period ca. 1650, the mandorla Nanbokucho/Muromachi ca. 1400. Minor old repairs.

Diameter of mandorla: 30 cm
Thickness: 3 cm
Height of Kannon Bosatsu: 11 cm

Metallic screws and line inserted on the back of the mandorla for wall display.