A rare sancai-glazed tileworks group depicting the Buddha’s parinirvana, Ming dynasty (1368-1644)
Lot 1085. A rare sancai-glazed tileworks group depicting the Buddha’s parinirvana, Ming dynasty (1368-1644); 16 ½ in. (42 cm.) high. Estimate USD 10,000 - USD 15,000. Price realised USD 60,000. © Christie's Image Ltd 2019.
The Buddha is shown lying on his right side with his hand supporting his head on a cushion, while being mourned by the three disciples kneeling behind him on the top of the rectangular plinth which is decorated in high relief on the front with a dragon amidst clouds, and on the reverse with two confronted phoenixes. The group is covered overall with green, cream and ochre glazes..
The Robert B. and Beatrice C. Mayer Family Collection.
Provenance: Thiel's Los Angeles, California, 3 September 1968.
Exhibited: On loan: Minneapolis, Minnesota, The Minneapolis Institute of Arts, May 1981-January 1995.
Note: Compare the very similar sancai tileworks group depicting the Buddha’s parinirvana by Qiao Bin, dated to 1503, in the collection of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 25.227.1, illustrated by Denise Patry Leidy, Donna Strahan, et al., Wisdom Embodied: Chinese Buddhist and Daoist Sculpture in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2010, p. 182, no. A55.
Christie's. Important Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, New York, 13 September 2019