A LARGE DARK GRAY STONE HEAD OF A BODHISATTVA

Details

A LARGE DARK GRAY STONE HEAD OF A BODHISATTVA
NORTHERN WEI DYNASTY

The elongated face with meditative expression, carved with long, thin nose under high, arched brows and eyes with downcast lids, above a full mouth drawn up in a half smile, framed by pendulous ear lobes below a tall tripartite crown, with layers of brownish-red and brownish-white pigments remaining
17in. (43.2cm.) high, stand

Lot Essay

Compare a very similar, but smaller head, probably from the Longmen caves, included in the exhibition, Early Chinese art from tombs and temples, Eskenazi, London, June 8-July 9, 1993, Catalogue, no. 43. Compare, also, the head of a bodhisattva with a similar tripartite crown, almost as large as the present lot, in the Asian Art Museum, San Francisco, described as possibly from Longmen, illustrated by René-Yvon Lefebvre d'Argencé, The Avery Brundage Collection of Chinese, Korean and Japanese Sculpture, Kodansha, 1974, p. 94, no. 34. Another example, which has similarly carved facial features, but a different headress, is illustrated in Longmen Liusan Diaoxiang Ji (The Lost Statues of the Longmen Caves), Shanghai, 1993, p. 43, no. 47