CHINE, DYNASTIE SONG (960-1279)

These two magnificent wood sculptures represent bodhisattvas, the enlightened deities of Buddhism. Although the identifying attributes signified by the hand gestures are missing, they would likely have formed part of a larger group of figures in the retinue of a Buddha. Such arrangements exist as early as the Tang dynasty (618 – 906), They remained represented in the Chinese Buddhist pantheon up through the Ming dynasty (1368 – 1644), such as the Tang dynasty example illustrated by H. Trubner et. al., Asiatic Art in the Seattle Art Museum, Seattle, Washington, 1973, p. 154, no. 101. Stylistically, the heavy folds of the robes, obscuring the features of the body, and the fleshy jowls of the face, represent a continuation of an earlier Song dynasty (960 – 1279) style. Compare to a larger wood figure of a standing bodhisattva, dated Northern Song dynasty, in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of New York (Accession Number: 28.123).