NORTHERN WEI DYNASTY, 5TH-6TH CENTURY

Details

A RARE SANDSTONE HEAD OF BUDDHA
NORTHERN WEI DYNASTY, 5TH-6TH CENTURY
Probably from Yungang, the face carved with pleasant expression and the lips pulled up into a gentle smile, all framed by the large, simply carved ears and the curve of the hair which is surmounted by a rounded usnisa, the granular stone of mottled buff color, with some traces of pigment
11 in. (28 cm.) high, stand

Provenance

Acquired in New York in the mid-1970s.

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Lot Essay

Compare the heads of a number of Buddhas located in the caves of Yungang, illustrated in Zhongguo meishu quanji: Yungang Shiku Diaoke (Sculpture from the Yungang Caves), Beijing, 1988, p. 19, pl. 14, and also the figure on the right on p. 70, pl. 68, where the facial expressions are carved in a similar stylistic manner to that of the present head. See, also, another head from the Yungang Caves illustrated in Butsu So (Buddhist Sculpture), Tokyo, 1962, p. 9, and another illustrated in Hai wai ji Gang Tai cang li dai fo xiang : zhen pin ji nian tu jian (Catalogue of Treasures of Buddhist Sculpture in Overseas Collections Including Hong Kong and Taiwan), Taiyuan, 2007, p. 312.

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