1 / 6
AGUTTES
28
-
JAPAN, POSSIBLY EDO PERIOD, 18th CENTURY
Partially polychrom…
See original version (French)
28
-
JAPAN, POSSIBLY EDO PERIOD, 18th CENTURY
Partially polychrom…
See original version (French)
Estimate €3,000 - €4,000
Voluntary lot
Description
JAPAN, POSSIBLY EDO PERIOD, 18th CENTURY
Partially polychromed terracotta statue possibly representing Kishimojin. The ogress is depicted seated in a relaxed seiza, wearing a large double-breasted robe whose flaps extend over the base. Her right hand points to the pomegranate in her left. Her hair is styled in a "mizura", falling to her shoulders and delicately detailed. The face is round, with a serene expression, a small mouth and wide-set, half-closed eyes. On a later natural wood base.
H. tot. 56 cm; Dim. 50 x 33 x 32.5 cm
Provenance: Belgian private collection:
Belgian private collection
Information Expertise:
Certificate of dating by thermoluminescence from the Brussels Art Laboratory dated 17 November 2023.
Note:
Hārītī is a guardian deity of Buddhism and a fertility goddess linked to motherhood and the protection of childhood, known in China as Guizimu and in Japan as Kishimojin (鬼子母神), Kariteimo, or Kangimo ("Mother of Joy").
Tradition has it that in the time of Shākyamuni Buddha, Kishimojin was a feared ogress (rakshasa or yakṣa), the mother of hundreds of children. To feed her numerous offspring, she kidnapped and devoured the children of other families. The Buddha decided to make her experience the suffering she inflicted: he hid her youngest child under his alms bowl. Desperate after a fruitless search, Kishimojin begged for his help. The Buddha asked her if she could imagine the pain of parents who had lost one child, when she herself had hundreds. Deeply distressed, she repented, promised to give up human flesh, eating only pomegranates - from then on the fruit became her symbolic attribute - and converted to Buddhist teaching.
This radical reversal of her role - from child devourer to protective deity - is at the heart of her myth, and illustrates the transformative power of compassion and Enlightenment. In the Lotus Sūtra, she appears alongside the Ten Demon Daughters (Jūrasetsu-nyo), swearing to protect practitioners of the sacred text and transmit protective formulas (dhāraṇī). As such, she occupies an essential place in the Japanese Lotus schools, particularly the Nichiren tradition, where her cult developed particularly from the XIIIᵉ century onwards.
Possibly derived from ancient Indian traditions and integrated into Buddhism from Yakṣa cults, or even Iranian substrates, Hārītī/Kishimojin embodies an ambivalent figure turned benevolent. A protector of faith and motherhood, she symbolises the transformation of destructive forces into powers of protection and fecundity.
See original version (French)
Auto-translation. Refer to original language for legal validity.
Pictures credits: Contact the Auction House
You may also like