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Lot 3008PROPERTY FROM AN ASIAN FAMILY COLLECTION
AN EXCEPTIONAL SANDSTONE HEAD OF A BODHISATTVA
TANG DYNASTY (AD 618-907)
Closed30 November 2020
Price Realised
HKD 5,000,000
More Information
Specialist note
This sandstone head is remarkable for its elegant proportions and sensitive carving. The fleshy face, arched eyebrows, slit eyes, full lips and hair drawn back into a high chignon are characteristic of stone sculptures made during the Tang dynasty. The facial features are considerably more Chinese in nature and can be regarded as a more mature style which arose during the 7th to 8th centuries.
Compare a few stone heads of bodhisattvas carved with similar features, such as one in the Rijksmuseum voor Volkenkunde, illustrated in Hai-Wai Yi-Chen: Chinese Art in Overseas Collections, Buddhist Sculpture, Taipei, 1986, no. 116; one in the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, illustrated in Hai-Wai Yi-Chen: Chinese Art in Overseas Collections, Buddhist Sculpture II, Taipei, 1990, no. 128; and one in Museum Rietberg, Zurich (accession no. RCH 131); one from the Collection of Arthur Wiesenberger (1896-1970), sold at Sotheby’s New York, 11 September 2012, lot 118; and from Yamanaka & Co., New York, sold at Sotheby’s New York, 16 September 2015, lot 421.
Compare a few stone heads of bodhisattvas carved with similar features, such as one in the Rijksmuseum voor Volkenkunde, illustrated in Hai-Wai Yi-Chen: Chinese Art in Overseas Collections, Buddhist Sculpture, Taipei, 1986, no. 116; one in the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, illustrated in Hai-Wai Yi-Chen: Chinese Art in Overseas Collections, Buddhist Sculpture II, Taipei, 1990, no. 128; and one in Museum Rietberg, Zurich (accession no. RCH 131); one from the Collection of Arthur Wiesenberger (1896-1970), sold at Sotheby’s New York, 11 September 2012, lot 118; and from Yamanaka & Co., New York, sold at Sotheby’s New York, 16 September 2015, lot 421.