NORTHERN QI DYNASTY (550-577)

Details

A SMALL PAINTED DARK GREY STONE HEAD OF BUDDHA
NORTHERN QI DYNASTY (550-577)
The face finely carved with small chin and mouth, straight nose and partially closed eyes below arched brows, the ears with pendulous lobes and the hair carved as spikey curls, with traces of pigment on the face and neck, dark red on the mouth and black detailing a pencilled mustache with curled ends as well as detailing the eyes and brows
7 in. (17.8 cm.) high, stand

Lot Essay

This finely carved head may be compared to several of Northern Qi date that can be seen in the catalogue, Masterpieces of Buddhist Statuary from Qingzhou City, The National Museum of Chinese History, Qingzhou Municipal Museum, Beijing 1999: the heads on the standing figures, pp. 102 and 103 and the head illustrated on p. 121. There are slight differences in all of these heads, but they all share the same delicacy in the carving of the facial features and the same serene expression. The present head is the only one with a slight indentation in the hairline above the forehead, and the representation of the slightly more pronounced usnisa.

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