Japanese Buddhist Painting, ca. 1720
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GUEST:
The lady I was married to, a real sweetheart, her aunt went to China every year for ten years and got to know some of the people in the art world. And so she brought this back and gave it to my ex-wife. And when we went through a divorce, she said, "Sterling, you love Oriental art," and she gave it to me. Actually, it was all folded up and everything, but I wanted to see it every day without it getting damaged. That's why I put it in this frame.
APPRAISER:
You were very wise to put it in a frame.
GUEST:
Yes, ma'am.
APPRAISER:
And it originally, as you said, was rolled up and was a hanging scroll.
GUEST:
Yes, ma'am.
APPRAISER:
And it's not from China, it's from Japan.
GUEST:
Oh, okay.
APPRAISER:
When do you think your ex-wife's aunt purchased this?
GUEST:
She purchased this in 1984. I've always called this painting "A Man's Man," 'cause I'm kind of that way myself, and this is the man right here, and this is all his. The people around him, the men that surround him, protect him, give him the future
to look for, and encourage him to be the man's man, and that's what I look at when I
see that.
APPRAISER:
Well, you've been very excellent in describing what's going on.
GUEST:
Thank you.
APPRAISER:
The man is the Buddha-- Shakyamuni, the Buddha.
GUEST:
Oh!
APPRAISER:
The imagery that's here, it's actually the crest of the Buddha-- it's the lotus.
GUEST:
Oh, I didn't know that!
APPRAISER:
The lotus blossom.
GUEST:
Wow.
APPRAISER:
So that's what's surrounding this painting. The painting is what we call
"The Buddha and His Attendants." It's the family of the Buddha. And these are guardian figures here, and other figures that are protecting him, and it's called a raigo
painting, raigo painting meaning the Buddha and his attendants are coming down from Heaven.
GUEST:
Wow! Awesome!
APPRAISER:
And here you have two animals-- the elephant and the tiger-- that are represented as, as animals who are protecting the Buddha.
GUEST:
(softly): Wow.
APPRAISER:
And here we have very beautiful portraiture. This painting was done in a Buddhist temple.
GUEST:
Really?
APPRAISER:
And the painters were anonymous painters. What they were trained in doing was painting on this silk with natural pigments. So they were using mineral and vegetable pigments, and there is a great deal of gold leaf on the painting.
GUEST:
Yes, there is, that's right.
APPRAISER:
So in the painting here, all of the crowns and the outlines of the Buddha, and the Buddha's mandala, are all done in pure gold.
GUEST:
Really?
APPRAISER:
And at this time, to use pure gold on a painting-- 1710 to 1730-- was very expensive. Gold, of course, is very fugitive, so a lot of it can chip off. And if you look in places around the crown...
GUEST:
Yes, yes, I see little chips.
APPRAISER:
But the fact that this has been rolled up, it protected it.
GUEST:
Wow.
APPRAISER:
So this painting is in excellent condition for its age.
GUEST:
Thank you.
APPRAISER:
At auction, I would put an estimate of $8,000 to $10,000.
GUEST:
Oh, super-- that's great! Wow.
APPRAISER:
So it's a good thing that you framed it to preserve it.
GUEST:
Well, I thank you for what you've done. I didn't have any idea, and you know what? I was going to sell it to buy a new horse, 'cause I'm a cowboy guy, but since talking to you, I think it's better I just keep it.
APPRAISER:
No, I think you should keep it.
GUEST:
I will keep it.
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