TANG DYNASTY (AD 618-907), DATED BY INSCRIPTION TO AD 720

The inscription on the base of the present figure states that it was dedicated on the 25th day of the first month of the eighth year of the Kaiyuan era by the Buddhist nun, Yao Fei, “for the sake of safety, she dedicated money to make this sculpture of Amitabha, and wishes for enlightenment for all.” Compare the present work with a stone figure of Maitreya in the collection of the Art Institute of Chicago, illustrated by Saburo Matsubara, The Path of Chinese Buddhist Sculpture, vol. III – Tang, Five Dynasties, Sung, and Taoism Sculpture, Tokyo, 1995, p. 644. In the treatment of the drapery, figural and facial proportions and hair of the figure, and the flaming aureole behind, the two works are closely related. The Art Institute of Chicago example was dedicated just fifteen years prior to the present example, by the Buddhist monk Yang Zongchun, for the benefit of his parents and seven generations of his ancestors. See, also, a marble figure of Buddha from The Collection of Robert Hatfield Ellsworth, sold at Christie’s New York, 20 March 2015, lot 767.