Lot Essay
The present lot is remarkable for its slenderness of form and rather angular, sculptured face, combined with the more restrained use of jewelry. A bodhisattva, also with a more angular face, slender body and less adornments, dated to the Northern Qi dynasty, was included in the exhibition, Ancient Chinese Sculpture, Eskenazi, London, 11 - 24 December 1981, no. 5; and another bodhisattva of less slender form, and with slightly more ornate jewlery, was included in the exhibition, Early Chinese Art, 8th century BC - 9th century AD, Eskenazi, London, 6 June - 8 July 1995, no. 47. A number of comparable figures are included in the exhibition, Masterpieces of Buddhist Statuary from Qingzhou City, Qingzhou Municipal Museum, Beijing, July 1999, pp. 130-136. The back of a bodhisattva illustrated on p. 132 shows a similar treatment of the shawl. See, also, The Art of Contemplation - Religious Sculpture from Private Collections, Taipei, 1997, no. 58, for a Sui dynasty torso wearing a related trefoil necklace, as well as the usual long looped beads secured at the waist.