A wood figure of one of the juni Shinsho (12 Divine Generals)Kamakura period (1185-1333), 13th/14th centuryThe dynamic figure, perhaps of Haira, shown dressed in Chinese-style armor and standing on a rock base, the right arm extended out to the side and the left hand held at chest level, the sleeves, sash and hem of his garment fluttering as it is blown by the wind, the eyes inlaid in reverse-painted glass, some traces of lacquer and gilt in the crevices of the armor 20 1/8in (51cm) high, figure only, 21 5/8in (55cm) high overall注脚ProvenancePurchased from Hiroshi Yanagi Oriental Art, Kyoto, 2015Followers and protectors of the Yakushi (Medicine Master) Buddha, the 12 Divine Generals typically each wear Chinese-style armor and carry an identifying weapon; from the Kamakura period onwards (although not in this case) they were also frequently associated with the 12 animals of the East Asian zodiac. The posture and the position of the hands of the present lot suggest that the figure may once have held a bow in the right hand and drew back the bowstring with the left; although the weapons carried by each of the Divine Generals varied over time, it is worth noting that Butsuzo zui (Collected Illustrations of Buddhist Images), a woodblock-printed illustrated book published in 1690, includes a set of the 12 Generals in which it is Haira who carries a bow; see http://www.lib.ehime-u.ac.jp/SUZUKA/316/index.html, p. 64. In purely sculptural terms, the present figure appears to belong within a stylistic lineage most famously represented by a set of 12 in the dynamic manner established by the great Nara sculptor Unkei (died 1223)—now shared between Tokyo National Museum and the Seikado Bunko Art Museum—that were originally enshrined at Kyoto's Joruriji Temple; compare http://www.seikado.or.jp/collection/sculpture/001.html and https://www.tnm.jp/modules/r_collection/index.php?controller=dtl&colid=C1853.