Lot 161
161
A RARE DARK GREY STONE TORSO OF A BODHISATTVA
A RARE DARK GREY STONE TORSO OF A BODHISATTVA

TANG DYNASTY, CIRCA 700, FROM THE LONGMEN CAVES

Details
A RARE DARK GREY STONE TORSO OF A BODHISATTVA
Tang Dynasty, circa 700, from the Longmen Caves
The supple-bodied deity standing in a tribangha pose atop a lotus socle, dressed in a diaphanous dhoti folded over at the waist and falling in deep U-shaped folds to the tops of the bare feet, with a shawl draped over the left shoulder and a scarf tied diagonally around the torso beneath a long looped bead necklace secured in the center by a disc and conjoined below the neck by overlapping strands
21in. (54.6cm.) high, stand

Lot Essay

Compare the slightly larger pair of bodhisattvas standing on similar lotus socles, with very similar representation of torso and U-shape drapery folds, illustrated in Chinese Buddhist Sculpture from the Wei through the T'ang Dynasty, National Museum of History, Taipei, 1983, pp. 150-151, no. 22.

This figure is related to some of the larger figures from Longmen, such as the standing bodhisattva in a similar pose, with U-shaped drapery folds and roll of material at the waist, illustrated in Longmen Liusan Diaoxiang Ji (The Lost Statues of the Longmen Caves), Shanghai, 1993, p. 71, no. 78.