A gilt-bronze standing figure of a Dharma protector, Tang dynasty

Dvarapala, dharma protectors or guardian figures, are traditionally portrayed as ferocious creatures with contorted limbs and fierce expressions. The current figure is a rare finely cast example of the type known from the Tang dynasty when the style came to represent the Chinese reworking of the standard form developed in the Indian Gupta period (AD 320-550), when figures of this type were made to look more human. In the current magnificent example, the figure is dressed more like an Indian bodhisattva with scarves, earrings and other jewelry.

A smaller but closely related Tang gilt-bronze guardian figure from the collection of Ivan Hart is illustrated in Hugo Munsterberg, Chinese Buddhist Bronzes, Tokyo, 1967, pl. 91. Compare other gilt-bronze guardian figures attributed to the Tang dynasty, illustrated in Saburo Matsubara, Chinese Buddhist Sculpture: A study based on bronze and stone statues other than works from cave temples, Tokyo, 1966, pls 254a-d. A smaller example (height 12cm) without its base, from the collection of James (1913-1990) and Marilyn (1925-2019) Alsdorf, illustrated in Hugo Munsterberg, Chinese Buddhist Bronzes, Tokyo, 1967, pl. 89, was sold in these rooms, 23rd-24th March 1998, lot 529, and again 23rd September 2020, lot 591.

Compare also the small gilt-bronze figure of a guardian, standing in a similar position on the shoulders of a crouching demon, which is attributed to the Tang dynasty, and wears more ornate armor, illustrated by Saburo Matsubara in Chuugoku Bukkyo Chokokushi Ron, vol. 3, Tang, Five Dynasties, Song and Daoism Sculpture, Tokyo, 1995, pl. 669(a). See, also, the related figure, attributed to the Tang dynasty, illustrated in Fojiao Diaosu Mingpin Tulu, Beijing, 1997, p. 552, no. 529.