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拍品專文
This finely carved stele is representative of the outpour of high-quality Buddhist sculpture being made in China in the 5th century, during the Northern Qi and Northern Zhou dynasties which together spanned little more than a quarter of a century but saw great development in Buddhist art. Unlike the sculpture made in the preceding Northern Wei dynasty, Northern Qi and Northern Zhou sculpture saw a turn towards rounder, softer, and more naturalistic imagery.
After the downfall of the Wei Tartar dynasty and the victory of the Northern Qi and Northern Zhou rulers, there was a breakdown in communications within China, however the Emperor Wen Gong of the Northern Qi was a devoted Buddhist and thus succeeded in maintaining direct communications with India. Frequent pilgrimages were made, monks traveled across the Silk Route returning with scriptures and paintings, and hundreds of monasteries were founded across the area of Shandong, Hebei, Henan and eastern Shanxi.
This strong relationship between the Northern Qi Emperor and Gupta India had a strong stylistic influence on Buddhist sites and sculptures made during this time. The high-relief jewelry on the present figure, in particular, reflects the influence of Gupta style Indian sculptures. A Northern Qi sandstone figure of a standing bodhisattva from the Ching-ya T’ang Collection, illustrated in The Art of Contemplation-Religious Sculpture from Private Collections, The National Palace Museum, Taipei, 1997, pp. 126-27, no. 35, and on p. 252, has a similar necklace of three pronounced beads and a beaded and braided outer necklace. The author notes that these distinctive necklaces are often found on figures from Shanxi province. Compare, also, another figure of a standing bodhisattva with similar necklaces, in the Cincinnati Art Museum, illustrated in Hai-Wai Yi-Chen, Chinese Art in Overseas Collections: Buddhist Sculpture II, Taipei, 1990, p. 65, and another similar figure dated to the Northern Qi dynasty which was unearthed in Shanxi, illustrated in Faxiang zhuangyan: Shanxi fojiao zaoxiang yishu jingpin zhuan, Jiangxi Provincial Museum, Shanghai, 2011, p. 54.
The facial characteristics of the present figure, especially the slightly plump face, evenly parted hair, prominent rounded eyebrows, and distinctive finely delineated chin, as well as the figure’s rigid stance, are characteristic of Northern Qi bodhisattvas. A limestone head of a bodhisattva, also dating to the Northern Qi dynasty, with similarly modeled features sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, 29 October 2001, lot 504. A figure of a bodhisattva dated to the Northern Qi-Sui dynasty, 6th century, with similarly rigid frontal pose to the present figure, was sold at Christie’s New York, 22 March 2019, lot 1609. Compare, also, a massive head of a bodhisattva from the J. T. Tai collection dated to the second half of the 6th century, sold at Sotheby’s New York, 3 June 1985, lot 5, which is also carved in the round with similarly modeled facial features.
After the downfall of the Wei Tartar dynasty and the victory of the Northern Qi and Northern Zhou rulers, there was a breakdown in communications within China, however the Emperor Wen Gong of the Northern Qi was a devoted Buddhist and thus succeeded in maintaining direct communications with India. Frequent pilgrimages were made, monks traveled across the Silk Route returning with scriptures and paintings, and hundreds of monasteries were founded across the area of Shandong, Hebei, Henan and eastern Shanxi.
This strong relationship between the Northern Qi Emperor and Gupta India had a strong stylistic influence on Buddhist sites and sculptures made during this time. The high-relief jewelry on the present figure, in particular, reflects the influence of Gupta style Indian sculptures. A Northern Qi sandstone figure of a standing bodhisattva from the Ching-ya T’ang Collection, illustrated in The Art of Contemplation-Religious Sculpture from Private Collections, The National Palace Museum, Taipei, 1997, pp. 126-27, no. 35, and on p. 252, has a similar necklace of three pronounced beads and a beaded and braided outer necklace. The author notes that these distinctive necklaces are often found on figures from Shanxi province. Compare, also, another figure of a standing bodhisattva with similar necklaces, in the Cincinnati Art Museum, illustrated in Hai-Wai Yi-Chen, Chinese Art in Overseas Collections: Buddhist Sculpture II, Taipei, 1990, p. 65, and another similar figure dated to the Northern Qi dynasty which was unearthed in Shanxi, illustrated in Faxiang zhuangyan: Shanxi fojiao zaoxiang yishu jingpin zhuan, Jiangxi Provincial Museum, Shanghai, 2011, p. 54.
The facial characteristics of the present figure, especially the slightly plump face, evenly parted hair, prominent rounded eyebrows, and distinctive finely delineated chin, as well as the figure’s rigid stance, are characteristic of Northern Qi bodhisattvas. A limestone head of a bodhisattva, also dating to the Northern Qi dynasty, with similarly modeled features sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, 29 October 2001, lot 504. A figure of a bodhisattva dated to the Northern Qi-Sui dynasty, 6th century, with similarly rigid frontal pose to the present figure, was sold at Christie’s New York, 22 March 2019, lot 1609. Compare, also, a massive head of a bodhisattva from the J. T. Tai collection dated to the second half of the 6th century, sold at Sotheby’s New York, 3 June 1985, lot 5, which is also carved in the round with similarly modeled facial features.