A Large Silver-Inlaid Bronze Figure of a Buddhist Acolyte Attributed to Shisou, Ming Dynasty, 16th / 17th Century

naturalistically cast in the form of a Buddhist acolyte depicted standing barefoot on perforated rockwork, the palms of his hands held together in anjali mudra, depicted as a male youth with a tonsured head save for a single tuft of hair above the forehead, his face turned slightly to the right, adorned in loose flowing robes suspended over his left shoulder, his right shoulder, upper chest and arm all bare save for a single bracelet around his right wrist, matched on the left hand, the hems of the robes inlaid in silver wire with a scrolling floral design of lingzhi, further adorned with a plaque inscribed in gold with the Sanskrit character om suspended on a long doubled cord hanging down his back over his left shoulder, attached by a ring to his robes on the front

Sydney L. Moss Ltd., London, 1982

Gerard Tsang and Hugh Moss, Arts from the Scholar's Studio, Fung Ping Shan Museum, University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, 1986, cat. no. 138.

There is general surface wear, but overall good condition. Please note that the patina is a much darker colour than in the catalogue photo, where it has emerged too light.
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Large late Ming bronze figures of this high quality naturalistic detailing were clearly instrumental in the development of Dehua figural models. Rockwork bases for religious bronze figures were a prevailing feature, which was adopted by Dehua potters, especially He Chaozong. For a particularly striking example of a Dehua figure, depicted standing with similar proud posture on rockwork, with comparable treatment of the drapery, see the He Chaozong figure of Bodhidharma from the Wang Xing Lou Collection, illustrated by John Ayers, Blanc de Chine: Divine Images in Porcelain, China Institute Gallery, New York, 2002, cat. no. 27.

For a Shisou-marked silver-inlaid figure of Guanyin, reputedly from the collection of Kichirobei Yamaguchi, the founder of Tekisui Museum in Ashiya, Japan, see Christie's New York, 21st-22nd March 2013, lot 1282.