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Lot Essay
This wood sculpture is made by the yosegi-zukuri process whereby a number of separate hollowed-out pieces are assembled to make the three-dimensional sculpture. This method became standard during the Kamakura period (1185-1333) but remained in use especially for large sculptures until sometime during the Edo period (1604-1867). The eyes are of crystal with pigment on paper set behind the face which is attached to the hollow head. The arms are carved from separate pieces and set into the hollow body with pegs and held by a layers of lacquer to which lacquer, pigment, and decorative metal (usually gold dust or foil) is applied.
The deity Noyoirin Kannon is one of the many forms of Kannon (Avalokitesvara), the ‘Bodhisattva of Mercy’. The deity is usually depicted sitting on a rock with the right knee raised, with six arms, although versions might have fewer. Most extant figures of Nyoirin Kannon, like the present figure, will have lost some or all of the attributes which the deity once held. One arm on the left of the figure is supported on the ground, signifying a wholeness with the ‘Daichi’ (Great Earth) or apparent world. Another arm has the hand raised with the palm upward which would once have held a ‘Horin’, or ‘Wheel of the Law’ while the third arm once held a lotus stem and bud. The upper arm on the right side touches the cheek in a gesture of contemplation, while another held in front of the trunk once held the ‘Nyoi Hoju’ or ‘Wishing Jewel’, and the third held down at the side would have held a juzu, the Buddhist rosary of crystal beads. The six arms are held to be synonymous with the ‘Rokudo’ or ‘Six Worlds’, the stages of a sentient being to enlightenment. But in simple terms the ‘Hoju’ grants human’s desires for wealth, wisdom, and enlightenment, while the ‘Horin’ defines the direction that desire must take according to Buddhist teaching.
Since the popularisation of Nyoirin Kannon among the esoteric sects introduced into Japan in the 8th century, the deity has been considered as feminine deriving from the Heian period penchant for Tang dynasty feminine beauty. Indeed virtually all sculptures from the Heian (794-1185) and Kamakura (1185-1333) periods, and the restoration pieces under the Tokugawa regime in the Edo period (1604-1687), are distinctly feminine in appearance. They have high dressed coiffures with gilt and bejewelled crowns, bracelets, a softly rounded fleshy physique, and sensual facial expression with a slight intimate smile, the head slightly inclined to one side. A number of legends tell of this feminine gender of Nyoririn Kannon. Among them the best documented is probably that recorded in the Genko Shakusho (1322) telling how the monk Kukai had an image made in the likeness of Nyoi, a beautiful concubine of Emperor Junna (823-833), who later retired to a nunnery.
In contrast the head of the present sculpture is held erect rather than inclined in the Tang style, and the facial expression, is serene and inquiring. The style of the sculpture suggests a military rather than a courtly fashion.
The deity Noyoirin Kannon is one of the many forms of Kannon (Avalokitesvara), the ‘Bodhisattva of Mercy’. The deity is usually depicted sitting on a rock with the right knee raised, with six arms, although versions might have fewer. Most extant figures of Nyoirin Kannon, like the present figure, will have lost some or all of the attributes which the deity once held. One arm on the left of the figure is supported on the ground, signifying a wholeness with the ‘Daichi’ (Great Earth) or apparent world. Another arm has the hand raised with the palm upward which would once have held a ‘Horin’, or ‘Wheel of the Law’ while the third arm once held a lotus stem and bud. The upper arm on the right side touches the cheek in a gesture of contemplation, while another held in front of the trunk once held the ‘Nyoi Hoju’ or ‘Wishing Jewel’, and the third held down at the side would have held a juzu, the Buddhist rosary of crystal beads. The six arms are held to be synonymous with the ‘Rokudo’ or ‘Six Worlds’, the stages of a sentient being to enlightenment. But in simple terms the ‘Hoju’ grants human’s desires for wealth, wisdom, and enlightenment, while the ‘Horin’ defines the direction that desire must take according to Buddhist teaching.
Since the popularisation of Nyoirin Kannon among the esoteric sects introduced into Japan in the 8th century, the deity has been considered as feminine deriving from the Heian period penchant for Tang dynasty feminine beauty. Indeed virtually all sculptures from the Heian (794-1185) and Kamakura (1185-1333) periods, and the restoration pieces under the Tokugawa regime in the Edo period (1604-1687), are distinctly feminine in appearance. They have high dressed coiffures with gilt and bejewelled crowns, bracelets, a softly rounded fleshy physique, and sensual facial expression with a slight intimate smile, the head slightly inclined to one side. A number of legends tell of this feminine gender of Nyoririn Kannon. Among them the best documented is probably that recorded in the Genko Shakusho (1322) telling how the monk Kukai had an image made in the likeness of Nyoi, a beautiful concubine of Emperor Junna (823-833), who later retired to a nunnery.
In contrast the head of the present sculpture is held erect rather than inclined in the Tang style, and the facial expression, is serene and inquiring. The style of the sculpture suggests a military rather than a courtly fashion.