Lot 285. A rare inscribed gilt-bronze figure of Yuanshi Taizun, by Chen Yanqing, Ming dynasty, early 15th century. Height 8⅜ in., 21.2 cm. Estimate: 15,000 - 20,000 USD. © Sothebys.

the reverse with a six-character inscription reading Qiantang Chen Yanqing zao, Perspex stand (2).

Provenance: Private Collection, acquired prior to 1997, and thence by descent.

Note: This piece is notable on account of its inscription, which identifies its maker as Chen Yanqing, a sculptor who appears to have been active in Hangzhou from the late Yuan to the early 15th century. Surviving examples of gilt-bronzes signed by Chen are rare, although a few are in notable museum collections. See a gilt-bronze figure of Laozi, with the same six-character inscription, in the Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto (accession no. 991.62.1). Compare also two similar gilt-bronzes with dated inscriptions, one depicting Zhenwu, from the collection of Robert Sonnenschein II, now in the Art Institute of Chicago (accession no. 1950.1054), illustrated in Stephen Little, Taoism and the Arts of China, Berkeley, 2000, pl. 103, dated to 1439; and the other depicting Laozi and dated to 1438, in the Metropolitan Museum of Art (accession no. 1997.139), illustrated in Denise Patry Leidy and Donna Strahan, Wisdom Embodied. Chinese Buddhist and Daoist Sculpture in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 2010, pl. 38 (fig. 1).

Figure of the Celestial Worthy of Primordial Beginning, by Chen Yanqing, Ming Dynasty, mid 14th-mid 15th Century. Cast bronze with gilding, 21.5 x 12.3 x 8 cm. Royal Ontario Museum, Dr. Herman Herzog Levy Bequest Fund, 991.62.1. © Royal Ontario Museum

Daoist God Zhenwu (Perfected Warrior), Supreme Emperor of the Dark Heaven, by Chen Yanqing, Ming dynasty (1368–1644), Zhengtong period (1435–1449), dated 1439. Gilt bronze, 34.3 × 24.0 × 16.7 cm, Art Institute of Chicago, Gift of Robert Sonnenschein II, 1950.1054.

fig. 1 An inscribed gilt-bronze figure of Laozi, dated wuwu year, corresponding to 1438, by Chen Yanqing. Metropolitan Museum of Art, Purchase, Friends of Asian Art Gifts, 1997, 1997.139. © Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

Two slightly larger Shakyamuni Buddhas signed by Chen have also appeared at auction. See one sold in our London rooms, 8th November 2017, lot 67, and another, from the collection of Jas R. Herbert Boone, sold in these rooms, 18th-19th April 1989, lot 150A.

The present lot depicts Yuanshi Tianzun (Celestial Worthy of Primordial Beginning) dressed in rich, flowing robes with eyes downcast and his proper left hand raised in front of his chest. An imitation of the supreme Buddhas of the Mahayana tradition, which was introduced to China through trade routes in Central Asia, Yuanshi Tianzun quickly became the most important of all Daoist deities after his initial appearance in the early fifth century (see Stephen Little, op. cit., p. 232). Compare three similar Ming dynasty depictions of Yuanshi Tianzun, one sold at Bonhams London, 12th November 2015, lot 93; another sold in our London rooms, 16th May 2012, lot 229 (part lot); and the third in the Minneapolis Institute of Art, Minneapolis (accession no. 2003.66).

Celestial Worthy of Primordial Beginning, 15th-16th century. Bronze. Minneapolis Institute of Art, Gift of Ruth and Bruce Dayton, 2003.66.

Sotheby's. Important Chinese Art, New York, 23 March 2022