Lot 164
164
A WELL-CARVED WOOD FIGURE OF A BODHISATTVA
A WELL-CARVED WOOD FIGURE OF A BODHISATTVA

10TH/11TH CENTURY

Details
A WELL-CARVED WOOD FIGURE OF A BODHISATTVA
10th/11th Century
Standing gracefully with body swayed slightly to the side, and wearing long layered robes gathered and draped around the hips and torso, with a foliate necklace below the stiff, upright collar and a long celestial scarf draped over the shoulders, the head slightly tilted and the face well carved with an almost inquisitive expression enhanced by the open mouth showing small teeth and the curve of the eyes and brows, the hair dressed with a foliate-decorated fillet and pulled back into sections sweeping onto the shoulders and back of the neck below a large backward-swept topknot, traces of dark red and black pigment
25.5/8in. (65cm.) high, stand

Lot Essay

Refer to the torso of a bodhisattva in the Mr. and Mrs. James W. Alsdorf Collection with very similar skirt with loose overhang, and comparable heaviness of body, dated to the 10th century and included in the Catalogue of the exhibition, Masterworks in Wood: China and Japan, Portland Art Museum, November - December 1976, no. 12. See, also, the larger wood figure of a bodhisattva with a comparable face, from the collection of Jan Kleijkamp and Ellis Monroe, included in the Catalogue of the exhibition, Chinese Sculpture, The M. H. de Young Memorial Museum, San Francisco, 16 July - 15 August 1944, pl. XXVII.