Album of Daoist and Buddhist Themes: Kings of Hells: Leaf 29

Description

This leaf belongs to the album’s second series of narratives, Ten Kings of Hells. It demonstrates a Chinese-Buddhist approach in which the netherworld is divided into ten realms, each ruled by one of these kings. This particular version portrays the king in a benevolent guise, though his identity remains unclear. He holds an ivory plaque, is draped in a robe, and wears a hat that sports two slender side arms—similar to the headgear worn by Song dynasty emperors. A vertical scroll hangs to his left, depicting in the lower two-thirds a rectangular architectural plan with buildings aligned in a symmetrical arrangement not unlike a Buddhist temple or a Confucian shrine. Above, the scene also features a building and could show a specific mountain. One of the Ten Kings is known as the King of Taishan (or Mt. Tai). This depiction would represent a unique treatment of the king, not shared with other renditions of the same figure elsewhere.

Provenance

Wang Hui 王翬 [1632–1717]; Li Jiale 李嘉樂 [jinshi of 1863]; Zhu Hang 朱沆 [active 19th century]; Dr. F. R. (Fredrik Robert) Martin [1868–1933], Stockholm, Sweden, and Munich, Germany (1910–?); Mrs. L. M. Morris [20th century], England (?–1947); (Sotheby's, London, sale, 25 March 1947, lot 118, sold to Stephen Junkunc III) (March 25, 1947); István “Stephen" Junkunc III [1904–1978], by descent to his son Stephen Junkunc IV (1947–78); (Stephen Junkunc IV [b. 1937], Miami, FL, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art) (1978–2004); The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (2004–)

Album of Daoist and Buddhist Themes: Kings of Hells: Leaf 29

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1200s

Accession Number

2004.1.29

Medium

Album, ink on paper

Dimensions

Painting: 34 x 38.4 cm (13 3/8 x 15 1/8 in.)

Classification

Painting

Museum

The Cleveland Museum of Art

Cleveland, United States

Credit Line

John L. Severance Fund in honor of Dr. Ju-hsi Chou and Gift of various donors to the department of Asian Art (by exchange)