Hiho Hadaka Benten Seated Nude Benzaiten Figure, Bronze-Tone Resin with Green Drapery on Carved Base, 25 cm
Hiho Hadaka Benten Seated Nude Benzaiten Figure, Bronze-Tone Resin with Green Drapery on Carved Base, 25 cm
- Dispatch
- Prepared and sent from Tokyo within 7–14 days, often sooner, or as arranged
- Arrival
- United States · usually 4–7 days after dispatch, insured and tracked Check the Shipping Flowchart here
- Import
Duties and customs · View the estimate
A guide for this piece: about $63, based on the 10% US charge on the declared value of goods made in Japan.
The final figure is set by US Customs and depends on where the piece was made and the kind of object it is. Many antiques over a century old carry no ordinary duty; most jewellery and leather goods add a single-digit rate.
With EMS, any charge is collected by your postal service on delivery. For pieces of significant value we can often arrange duties prepaid before dispatch.
How the estimate is reached · Ask for a figure on this piece
- Character
- Ornate 6.6 of 10 ·
- Replies
- Within one Tokyo business day · Ask the curator team
- Guarantee
- Authenticity guaranteed · How we grade
| Figure | cm | in |
|---|---|---|
| Width | 36.0 cm | 14.2 in |
| Height | 25.0 cm | 9.8 in |
Every piece is measured by hand, in centimetres as Japan measures. Please allow 1–2 cm (about ½ inch) for the give of the material and the hand that held the tape.
Where each figure is taken · View the plate
Object, sculpture and ceramics
Condition report
Very Good
- Giftable
- Mint
- Excellent
- Very Good
- Good
- Honest Wear
- As Found
The Goddess of Music, Unrobed
Benzaiten, goddess of music, eloquence and water, sits with her hair streaming down her back and her hands raised as though at the strings of a lute. Bronze-tone resin, sea-green drapery and fine gilt jewellery give her a quiet, theatrical glow.
Best for: Collectors of Seven Lucky Gods figures and the hidden arts of Japan
Condition notes
Light scuffs and handling marks from display, as is usual for a decorative figure. No breaks or repairs are described or seen. The figure lifts from its base, which is lined in black.
Grades, ratings and commentary are given to the best of our ability, knowledge and experience, and condition remains partly a matter of personal perception. What we stand behind without qualification is authenticity, truthful description and provenance, to the best of our knowledge. How we grade
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A seated Benzaiten in bronze-tone resin, the goddess of music unrobed in the old hadaka Benten manner, with sea-green drapery and gilt jewellery on a dark carved base.
This piece belongs to the private room of the house and is shown to adults only.
The Piece
Benzaiten, or Benten, is the only goddess among the Seven Lucky Gods: patron of music, eloquence, water and fortune. Japan also keeps the rarer tradition of the hadaka Benten, the naked Benten, carved unclothed so that the devoted could dress her in real robes; the celebrated figure at Enoshima is the best known. The name given to this figure, Hiho Hadaka Benten, means the secret treasure naked Benten.
Here the theme is taken up in a modern decorative idiom. The goddess kneels with one hand lifted and the other at her waist, as though at the strings of a lute; a comb crowns her coiled hair, which flows in long sea-green waves to the base of her back. Gilt lines pick out her necklace, arm bands and drapery. Like the old figures she is modelled in full beneath her drapery, which is why she rests in the Private Room. The figure lifts from a separate base worked like water-worn stone, its top lined in black.
Details
- Subject: Benzaiten (Benten), seated and unrobed
- Type: Decorative figure (okimono) with separate base
- Material: Resin with a bronze-tone finish, green and gilt patination
- Base: Dark carved-effect base, material not stated
- Height: About 25 cm (9.8 in) with base
- Width: About 36 cm (14.2 in)
- Depth: About 22 cm (8.7 in)
- Made in: Japan
Measured by hand; please allow a gentle margin of about 1 to 2 cm (0.5 in).
Condition
- Light scuffs and handling marks from display.
- No breaks or repairs described or seen.
- Every photograph is part of the description.
Condition grade B (very good) on the Japanese scale; see Japanese condition ranks, explained.
Authenticity & Care
Offered as a resin figure with a bronze-tone finish, not cast bronze; unsigned, with no maker or date recorded. Dust with a soft dry brush; keep away from direct sun and heat.
Delivery from Japan
The figure and base are wrapped separately, cushioned and boxed, then shipped insured and tracked by EMS or an equivalent express service. Import duties and taxes, where applicable, are payable on arrival. Every sale is final; please ask anything you wish to know before you buy, and see our published policy.
Considered offers are welcome through Send an Offer, and each one is reviewed personally. Kindred pieces are kept in Shunga and Hidden Arts and among our okimono, figurines and statues.
Concierge
Searching for a Benzaiten in carved wood or true bronze? Our Hunting Salon™ locates such figures across Japan's private collector circles, then inspects, documents and delivers them to you. Begin a Hunting Salon™ request.
Collectors also search: hadaka Benten figure · nude Benzaiten statue · Seven Lucky Gods okimono
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