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Lot Essay
In virtually pristine condition, this powerful figure of the Buddha likely dates to the Sui 隋朝 (AD 581–618) dynasty, though it possibly dates to the late Northern Qi 北齊 (AD 550–577). It is exceptionally important, not only because it captures the dynamic sculptural style of the Sui dynasty but also because it illustrates the transition from the earlier, relatively stylized sculptures of the sixth century to the more naturalistic style of the Tang 唐朝 (AD 618–907). Formerly in the collection of legendary New York collector, connoisseur, and art-dealer Robert H. Ellsworth (1929–2014) and published in Matsubara Saburō’s monumental 1995 compendium of Chinese Buddhist sculpture (The Path of Chinese Buddhist Sculpture, vol. 2 Later Northern and Southern Dynasties and Sui, Tokyo, pl. 443(c), 1995),[1] the sculpture has an enviable provenance.
Presented in the guise of a monk, this powerful sculpture represents a Buddha 佛像 as indicated by the robes, ushnisha, benevolent countenance, distended earlobes, and webbed fingers. The ushnisha 佛頂, or cranial protuberance atop the head, symbolizes the expanded wisdom that the Buddha gained at his enlightenment 菩提, and it serves as the Buddha’s diagnostic iconographic feature as only Buddhas possess an ushnisha.
“Buddha” 佛 means “the Enlightened One”; he is an individual who attained enlightenment and entered into nirvana 涅槃. In this sculpture, the Buddha sits in vajrasana 金剛座, a cross-legged sitting position, or asana 坐 (or 座), in which the feet are placed on the opposing thighs, soles up, the heels as close to the abdomen as possible, and the knees and legs arranged as symmetrically as possible. Often termed padmasana 蓮華坐 (the lotus position) or dhyanasana 禪坐 (the meditation position) in English, the position is known as vajrasana in Chinese and Tibetan Buddhism.
This sculpture presents the Buddha with his right hand held in the abhaya-mudra 施無畏印, a preaching gesture in which the hand is raised, palm outward, in the attitude of “do not fear”. (A ritual hand gesture, a mudra—手印 or 印相—symbolizes a particular action, power, or attitude of a deity.) He holds his left hand in the varada-mudra 與願印, or gift-giving gesture, in which the hand is lowered, palm outward. This combination of mudras—often shortened to read abhaya-vara-mudra—indicates that the Buddha is preaching 說法. Many different Buddhas hold their hands in the abhaya-vara-mudra; even so, a Buddha with hands so positioned, the fingers elegantly arrayed and pointing straight up and straight down but without fingertips and thumb touching to form a circle, is typically identified as the Historical Buddha Shakyamuni 釈迦牟尼佛 (traditionally, 563 BC–483 BC), suggesting that this image likely represents Shakyamuni.
A halo 光環, or nimbus, appears behind the Buddha’s head suggesting that light radiates from his body, thus signaling his divine status. (Symbolizing divinity, a halo 光環 is a circle, or disc, of light that appears behind a deity’s head; a mandorla is a full-body halo 背光.)
In excellent condition, the sculpture is amazingly complete, retaining its original head, arms, body, legs, lotus-base, and nimbus. Its columnar torso, enlivened by the elegant pattern of falling drapery folds, is entirely in keeping with a late sixth-century date, as are the large hands, the simple, clinging robe, and the rounded barrel chest which shows a vertical division of the pectorals but typically lacks a distinction between chest abdomen. (The disproportionately large hands likely served to emphasize the mudra and associated symbolism of teaching.) The unembellished cylindrical neck, which is typical of Northern Qi sculptures, stands in contrast to the fleshy necks with three strongly articulated folds that would appear during the Sui and then would become characteristic in sculptures from the Tang. The rectangular face, the wide mouth with bow-shaped upper lip, and the relatively small, wide eyes set in shallow sockets defined by arched eyebrows that spring from the nose and stem from the sharp intersection of forehead and eye-socket planes are standard features of Buddhist sculptures from the Northern Qi period, as are the large domical ushnisha and the depiction of the head with shaven pate rather than with wavy locks or small snail-shell curls of hair. In addition, the elongated ears with distended but flat, unmodulated, unpierced lobes are also characteristic of the Northern Qi style. Moreover, the placement of the arms close to the body, with lack of open space between arms and torso, is a characteristic of Northern Qi sculptures, the interest in such piercing of the stone beginning in the Sui and flourishing in the Tang.
Despite its strong stylistic links to Northern Qi, the present sculpture displays characteristics that illustrate the transitional nature of the Sui style. A conservative feature, the ornate, stylized folds of drapery that fall below the figure’s knees descend from sculptures of the earlier Northern Wei 北魏 (AD 386–535), Eastern Wei 東魏 (AD 534–550), and Northern Zhou 北周 (AD 557–581) periods which typically featured drapery that took on a life of its own, rhythmically cascading downward in pleats and folds and often masking even the presence of the body it covers. By contrast, the Northern Qi and Sui styles show clinging drapery that reveals the presence of the body and hints at its anatomy, which foreshadows the naturalistic style typical of the Tang.
The two-tiered lotus base 雙層蓮花寶座 on which the Buddha sits also anticipates the style of the Tang. The base’s central column, though only four-sided, was intended to appear octagonal from the front, symbolizing the Eight Fold Path 八正道, that is, the eight steps the Buddha enunciated to achieve nirvana 涅槃, or liberation from the samsara cycle 輪迴 of birth and rebirth. This feature, along with the miniature segmented columns that are carved in the round and that recall stacked, circular cushions in general appearance, are distinctive characteristics of Tang Buddhist sculptures.
This sculpture, like all stone and wooden sculptures of the day, was originally brightly painted with mineral pigments. Traces of green and white pigments are still clearly visible on the nimbus, while traces of red pigment adhere to recessed areas of the robe—below the figure’s proper left arm, for example; those traces of pigment hint at this sculpture’s original brilliance.
A stylistically related sculpture of a seated Buddha dated to AD 582 and now in the collection of the U.S. National Museum of Asian Art’s Freer Gallery of Art, Washington, DC, is illustrated by O. Sirén as pl. 306 in volume 2 of his 1925 Chinese Sculpture: From the Fifth to the Fourteenth Century, vol. 2, 1925, (1988 edition), pl. 306 (as published in the 1988 reprint edition edited by Bruce L. Miller and published by SDI Publications, Bangkok, Thailand).[2]
Intact and with traces of original pigment, published in a major compendium of Chinese Buddhist sculptures, and formerly in a celebrated New York collection, this sculpture is a rare and very important treasure, all the more so as it succinctly embodies the essence of the Sui-dynasty style while illustrating the transition from earlier, sixth-century styles to that of the Tang dynasty.
Robert D. Mowry 毛瑞
Alan J. Dworsky Curator of Chinese Art Emeritus,
Harvard Art Museums, and
Senior Consultant, Christie’s
哈佛大學藝術博物館亞洲部榮譽主任暨佳士得高級顧問
[1] See: Matsubara Saburō, Chūgoku Bukkyō Chōkoku Shiron [The Path of Chinese Buddhist Sculpture], vol. 2 Nanbokuchō kōki · Zui [Later Northern and Southern Dynasties, Sui] (Tokyo: Yoshikawa Kobunkan), 1995, pl. 443(c) / 松原三郎, 《中國佛教雕刻史論》, vol. 2 《南北朝後期·隋》, (東京: 吉弘川文館), 1995, 圖443(c)。
[2] See: Osvald Sirén, Chinese Sculpture: From the Fifth to the Fourteenth Century, vol. 2, pl. 306 in the 1988 reprint by Bruce L. Miller, ed. (Bangkok, Thailand: SDI Publications) of the original 1925 (London: Ernest Benn Ltd.) publication.
Presented in the guise of a monk, this powerful sculpture represents a Buddha 佛像 as indicated by the robes, ushnisha, benevolent countenance, distended earlobes, and webbed fingers. The ushnisha 佛頂, or cranial protuberance atop the head, symbolizes the expanded wisdom that the Buddha gained at his enlightenment 菩提, and it serves as the Buddha’s diagnostic iconographic feature as only Buddhas possess an ushnisha.
“Buddha” 佛 means “the Enlightened One”; he is an individual who attained enlightenment and entered into nirvana 涅槃. In this sculpture, the Buddha sits in vajrasana 金剛座, a cross-legged sitting position, or asana 坐 (or 座), in which the feet are placed on the opposing thighs, soles up, the heels as close to the abdomen as possible, and the knees and legs arranged as symmetrically as possible. Often termed padmasana 蓮華坐 (the lotus position) or dhyanasana 禪坐 (the meditation position) in English, the position is known as vajrasana in Chinese and Tibetan Buddhism.
This sculpture presents the Buddha with his right hand held in the abhaya-mudra 施無畏印, a preaching gesture in which the hand is raised, palm outward, in the attitude of “do not fear”. (A ritual hand gesture, a mudra—手印 or 印相—symbolizes a particular action, power, or attitude of a deity.) He holds his left hand in the varada-mudra 與願印, or gift-giving gesture, in which the hand is lowered, palm outward. This combination of mudras—often shortened to read abhaya-vara-mudra—indicates that the Buddha is preaching 說法. Many different Buddhas hold their hands in the abhaya-vara-mudra; even so, a Buddha with hands so positioned, the fingers elegantly arrayed and pointing straight up and straight down but without fingertips and thumb touching to form a circle, is typically identified as the Historical Buddha Shakyamuni 釈迦牟尼佛 (traditionally, 563 BC–483 BC), suggesting that this image likely represents Shakyamuni.
A halo 光環, or nimbus, appears behind the Buddha’s head suggesting that light radiates from his body, thus signaling his divine status. (Symbolizing divinity, a halo 光環 is a circle, or disc, of light that appears behind a deity’s head; a mandorla is a full-body halo 背光.)
In excellent condition, the sculpture is amazingly complete, retaining its original head, arms, body, legs, lotus-base, and nimbus. Its columnar torso, enlivened by the elegant pattern of falling drapery folds, is entirely in keeping with a late sixth-century date, as are the large hands, the simple, clinging robe, and the rounded barrel chest which shows a vertical division of the pectorals but typically lacks a distinction between chest abdomen. (The disproportionately large hands likely served to emphasize the mudra and associated symbolism of teaching.) The unembellished cylindrical neck, which is typical of Northern Qi sculptures, stands in contrast to the fleshy necks with three strongly articulated folds that would appear during the Sui and then would become characteristic in sculptures from the Tang. The rectangular face, the wide mouth with bow-shaped upper lip, and the relatively small, wide eyes set in shallow sockets defined by arched eyebrows that spring from the nose and stem from the sharp intersection of forehead and eye-socket planes are standard features of Buddhist sculptures from the Northern Qi period, as are the large domical ushnisha and the depiction of the head with shaven pate rather than with wavy locks or small snail-shell curls of hair. In addition, the elongated ears with distended but flat, unmodulated, unpierced lobes are also characteristic of the Northern Qi style. Moreover, the placement of the arms close to the body, with lack of open space between arms and torso, is a characteristic of Northern Qi sculptures, the interest in such piercing of the stone beginning in the Sui and flourishing in the Tang.
Despite its strong stylistic links to Northern Qi, the present sculpture displays characteristics that illustrate the transitional nature of the Sui style. A conservative feature, the ornate, stylized folds of drapery that fall below the figure’s knees descend from sculptures of the earlier Northern Wei 北魏 (AD 386–535), Eastern Wei 東魏 (AD 534–550), and Northern Zhou 北周 (AD 557–581) periods which typically featured drapery that took on a life of its own, rhythmically cascading downward in pleats and folds and often masking even the presence of the body it covers. By contrast, the Northern Qi and Sui styles show clinging drapery that reveals the presence of the body and hints at its anatomy, which foreshadows the naturalistic style typical of the Tang.
The two-tiered lotus base 雙層蓮花寶座 on which the Buddha sits also anticipates the style of the Tang. The base’s central column, though only four-sided, was intended to appear octagonal from the front, symbolizing the Eight Fold Path 八正道, that is, the eight steps the Buddha enunciated to achieve nirvana 涅槃, or liberation from the samsara cycle 輪迴 of birth and rebirth. This feature, along with the miniature segmented columns that are carved in the round and that recall stacked, circular cushions in general appearance, are distinctive characteristics of Tang Buddhist sculptures.
This sculpture, like all stone and wooden sculptures of the day, was originally brightly painted with mineral pigments. Traces of green and white pigments are still clearly visible on the nimbus, while traces of red pigment adhere to recessed areas of the robe—below the figure’s proper left arm, for example; those traces of pigment hint at this sculpture’s original brilliance.
A stylistically related sculpture of a seated Buddha dated to AD 582 and now in the collection of the U.S. National Museum of Asian Art’s Freer Gallery of Art, Washington, DC, is illustrated by O. Sirén as pl. 306 in volume 2 of his 1925 Chinese Sculpture: From the Fifth to the Fourteenth Century, vol. 2, 1925, (1988 edition), pl. 306 (as published in the 1988 reprint edition edited by Bruce L. Miller and published by SDI Publications, Bangkok, Thailand).[2]
Intact and with traces of original pigment, published in a major compendium of Chinese Buddhist sculptures, and formerly in a celebrated New York collection, this sculpture is a rare and very important treasure, all the more so as it succinctly embodies the essence of the Sui-dynasty style while illustrating the transition from earlier, sixth-century styles to that of the Tang dynasty.
Robert D. Mowry 毛瑞
Alan J. Dworsky Curator of Chinese Art Emeritus,
Harvard Art Museums, and
Senior Consultant, Christie’s
哈佛大學藝術博物館亞洲部榮譽主任暨佳士得高級顧問
[1] See: Matsubara Saburō, Chūgoku Bukkyō Chōkoku Shiron [The Path of Chinese Buddhist Sculpture], vol. 2 Nanbokuchō kōki · Zui [Later Northern and Southern Dynasties, Sui] (Tokyo: Yoshikawa Kobunkan), 1995, pl. 443(c) / 松原三郎, 《中國佛教雕刻史論》, vol. 2 《南北朝後期·隋》, (東京: 吉弘川文館), 1995, 圖443(c)。
[2] See: Osvald Sirén, Chinese Sculpture: From the Fifth to the Fourteenth Century, vol. 2, pl. 306 in the 1988 reprint by Bruce L. Miller, ed. (Bangkok, Thailand: SDI Publications) of the original 1925 (London: Ernest Benn Ltd.) publication.