Lot Essay
Large life-sized marble figures of this type are extremely rare.
The present figure compares very favorably in style to the highly sculptural marble head sold in our London Rooms, 13 June 1990, lot 109. Cf. the example in the Avery Brundage Collection, in particular the treatment of the chest and feet, illustrated by R. Fisher, Buddhist Art and Architecture, pl. 109
Better comparisons are provided by the set of sixteen or possibly eighteen sancai large pottery figures of Luohan originally from the caves at Yixian, Hebei Province, four of which (respectively in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, The British Museum, The William Rockhill Nelson Gallery of Art, and the University Museum, University of Pennsylvania), are illustrated in Hai-Wai Yi-Chen, Chinese Art in Overseas Collecitons, Buddhist Sculpture, pls. 150-153
Cf. also two dry lacquer heads, one possibly of Ananda from the Art Institute of Chicago, illustrated by Sickman and Soper, The Art and Architecture of China, pl. 81a; the other in the Nelson Gallery of Art, ibid., pl. 82.
The portrait-like features of all these sculptures are a particularly striking characteristic.
Another life-size Liao marble figure of Guanyin in the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, illustrated in Hai-Wai Yi-Chen, ibid., pl. 149 like the present figure, exhibits the continuation of the high Tang sculptural style. A smaller polychrome marble from the J.T. Tai Collection, with related drapery, lotus throne and with a serene expression, was sold in New York, 3 June 1985, lot 15; the lotus pedestal is very similar to that of the present lot.
Two rare polychrome marble Tang examples (dated Tianbao 11th year or A.D. 752) of smaller size in the Foguang Temple at Wutaishan, Shanxi Provence, are illustrated in Zhongguo Meishu Quanji, Sculpture Series, vol. 4, no. 48. These are stylistically highly comparable to their Liao counterparts.
The present figure compares very favorably in style to the highly sculptural marble head sold in our London Rooms, 13 June 1990, lot 109. Cf. the example in the Avery Brundage Collection, in particular the treatment of the chest and feet, illustrated by R. Fisher, Buddhist Art and Architecture, pl. 109
Better comparisons are provided by the set of sixteen or possibly eighteen sancai large pottery figures of Luohan originally from the caves at Yixian, Hebei Province, four of which (respectively in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, The British Museum, The William Rockhill Nelson Gallery of Art, and the University Museum, University of Pennsylvania), are illustrated in Hai-Wai Yi-Chen, Chinese Art in Overseas Collecitons, Buddhist Sculpture, pls. 150-153
Cf. also two dry lacquer heads, one possibly of Ananda from the Art Institute of Chicago, illustrated by Sickman and Soper, The Art and Architecture of China, pl. 81a; the other in the Nelson Gallery of Art, ibid., pl. 82.
The portrait-like features of all these sculptures are a particularly striking characteristic.
Another life-size Liao marble figure of Guanyin in the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, illustrated in Hai-Wai Yi-Chen, ibid., pl. 149 like the present figure, exhibits the continuation of the high Tang sculptural style. A smaller polychrome marble from the J.T. Tai Collection, with related drapery, lotus throne and with a serene expression, was sold in New York, 3 June 1985, lot 15; the lotus pedestal is very similar to that of the present lot.
Two rare polychrome marble Tang examples (dated Tianbao 11th year or A.D. 752) of smaller size in the Foguang Temple at Wutaishan, Shanxi Provence, are illustrated in Zhongguo Meishu Quanji, Sculpture Series, vol. 4, no. 48. These are stylistically highly comparable to their Liao counterparts.