Lot Essay
This head bears stylistic traits of the Longmen style, which are remarkably consistent in the portrayal of a more worldly and sensuous expression tempered by spiritual tranquility. The facial features of both Buddhas and Bodhisattvas alike exhibit similar treatments of the heavily-lidded eyes, fleshy checcks and lip set in invitingly serene smiles without the spiritual distance inherent in the Tianlongshan style.
A smaller head from the Heermaneck Collection included in the exhibition, The Arts of the T'ang Dynasty, Los Angeles County Museum, 1957, Catalogue, no. 54, has a similar coiled hairstyle, with a pearl below the topknot; and one from the Hardt Collection in the Ausstellung Chinesischer Kunst, Berlin, 1929, Catalogue, no. 298 is also similar.
Compare also, the smaller head of Guanyin probably from Longmen illustrated in the Avery Brundage Collection, Chinese, Korean and Japanese Sculpture, Japan, 1974, Catalogue, p. 222, no. 110, which is similar in the treatment of the hair.
Another similar head of large size (19in. high) was offered in the Collection of Chinese and Far Eastern Art, Yamanaka and Co. Inc., sold in New York, 1943, lot 392 (called Sui Dynasty).
See also a similar head on a standing Bodhisattva in the International Exhibition of Chinese Art, Royal Academy of Art, London, 1935-6, Catalogue, p. 218, no. 2386.
A large limestone head of Guanyin from the Longmen Caves sold at Christie's, Hong Kong, April 28, 1996, lot 565.
A smaller head from the Heermaneck Collection included in the exhibition, The Arts of the T'ang Dynasty, Los Angeles County Museum, 1957, Catalogue, no. 54, has a similar coiled hairstyle, with a pearl below the topknot; and one from the Hardt Collection in the Ausstellung Chinesischer Kunst, Berlin, 1929, Catalogue, no. 298 is also similar.
Compare also, the smaller head of Guanyin probably from Longmen illustrated in the Avery Brundage Collection, Chinese, Korean and Japanese Sculpture, Japan, 1974, Catalogue, p. 222, no. 110, which is similar in the treatment of the hair.
Another similar head of large size (19in. high) was offered in the Collection of Chinese and Far Eastern Art, Yamanaka and Co. Inc., sold in New York, 1943, lot 392 (called Sui Dynasty).
See also a similar head on a standing Bodhisattva in the International Exhibition of Chinese Art, Royal Academy of Art, London, 1935-6, Catalogue, p. 218, no. 2386.
A large limestone head of Guanyin from the Longmen Caves sold at Christie's, Hong Kong, April 28, 1996, lot 565.