1987.360.2.McD Pair of lokapalas (heavenly guardians) copy

As Buddhism moved into China from India, Central Asian elements entered the iconography. Among the most dramatic and energetic were guardian figures, as seen in these magnificent examples. In China, these figures combined with protective deities of popular Daoism known as Fang xiang. Through the tradition of burying Fang xiang figures in tombs in the belief they would ward off evil spirits, Buddhist guardians were introduced into the principally Daoist tomb environment. 

Shown as ferocious foreign physical types, these guardians wear fanciful armor and fantastic helmets; they once held weapons. Gaining associated power through exotic animal symbolism, the armor decoration often incorporated tigers and lions. Here, heads of mythical creatures decorate the upper armor, and one figure's legs emerge from the mouths of elephants. Their ultimate triumph as guardians is expressed symbolically through trampling a struggling demon or balancing on the figure of a reclining bull. 

Mingqi are pottery or wood figures that substituted in the tombs for human or animal sacrifices or represented actual objects from daily life. The practice of interring mingqi with the deceased developed during the Han dynasty (206 BCE – 220 CE). Production reached the height of sophistication and magnificence with the period of these guardians in the first half of the 8th century, when the simple green or brown glazed wares and painted pottery types of earlier centuries evolved into elaborately sculpted figures, naturalistic in detail and dynamically colored. 

Termed three-color (sancai), these lead glazes matured at a low temperature and were easily colored with iron, copper, or cobalt to create borwn, green, or blue after firing. White was also commonly used. In the most imposing examples, such as these guardians, color areas were carefully kept separate, emphasizing the brilliance and boldness of the color combinations and proclaiming the status of the deceased. 

From around 300 BCE onward, Chinese rulers and noblemen were buried in tombs accompanied by a variety of clay and wooden figures, many of which were designed to protect the deceased from evil. Part of the Buddhist tradition, lokapala are the heavenly guardians of the four cardinal directions, and four figures would have been placed inside Chinese temples or tombs at the four cardinal points. These ceramic lokapalas are covered with a sancai (three color) glaze, indicating that they were meant for use in a tomb. Within the context of a tomb, lokapala are a type of mingqi or funerary sculpture.  Funerary lokapala sculptures replaced earlier Taoist fangxiang or evil-averting entities that were placed in the four corners of tombs in the Han dynasty (206 BCE-220 CE). 

This pair of lokapalas represents the powerful, foreign military figures often battled in the Tang dynasty (618-906 CE). Their exaggerated poses and facial features are an indication of their ferocity. These figures wear decorative armor rather than field armor, indicating their likely status as court guards and, therefore, the importance and high rank of the person in whose tomb they would have been placed. Their armor includes exotic animal symbolism that would have transferred the associated strength and power of animals such as elephants, tigers, and lions to the wearer. The phoenix, a common symbol in Asian art, appears on the headdresses of the two heavenly guardians. Mythical creatures also decorate the upper armor of the figures, and one figure’s legs emerge from the mouths of elephants.

1987: Dallas Museum of Art, The Eugene and Margaret McDermott Art Fund, Inc., purchased from Eskenazi Oriental Art Limited, London [1]

Notes:

The main source for this provenance is the invoice dated July 7, 1987, in Collections Records object file (1987.360.1-2.McD).

[1] Works of art given or purchased by The Eugene and Margaret McDermott Art Fund, Inc., a non-profit organization, are placed in the custody of the DMA for the purpose of public display on the premises of the Museum or in other recognized art galleries or museums. The title to all works of art purchased (or otherwise acquired) by the McDermott Art Fund remains with the Fund.

12936862: UMO, Curator Anne Bromberg discusses these lokapalas.

apply to objects where number equals 1987.360.2.McD