Page 22 - jingyatang sculptures march2018

The sensitive, softly rounded carving style, the three-quarter pro" le rendering and the sub- ႊᬻፊᓎБᐧ䕍ȡ㍞㻭䲼㍐ⴠ⿌䰂ݨ喑䰃♎Ⱕ䓾҉
liminal smile of the elongated face, created by a deeply carved groove around the mouth, are Ҹ喑䰂ጒϓ̺ࣷ᱙׼㇫㉝喑ѳ㺸ڣ͚̭ψἯ᝸׼ፁ
much closer to the stone reliefs of the Gongxian caves, also in Henan province and equally
ፈ᫩䏘ݺ҉䰆⧝ϑࣶ喑ᅑ䶋᱙׼喑Ҹ㺸Ȩ͚స㒻㶀
commissioned by the Northern Wei imperial family, under Emperor Xiaoming (r. 516-528).
ڕ䯳e䰂ൾヴȩ喑Ȧ13•䲼㍐๖咺ᆞ䴬യᆞႶ䮪ⴠ
Although no closely related image is known from Gongxian either, and the workmanship of
⿌䰂ݨȧ喑ࡄϙ喑1989Ꭱ喑ృ❵23ȡओ̭Ҹ䐶᫩
the present image is more elaborate and detailed than that of related " gures at Gongxian,
Ȩ䲼㍐ⴠ⿌ᄧȩ喑ࡄϙ喑1963Ꭱ喑ృ❵61 63ȡ
with its scarves draped in two loops it is nevertheless reminiscent of some of the musicians
depicted there; see, for example, Zhongguo meishu quanji: Diaosu bian [Complete series 䲼㍐ⴠ⿌丈๖㜴᱙׼䕍ಸ̺ह喑็◧۹⾧丈㝋喑ज
on Chinese art: Sculpture section], 13: Gongxian Tianlongshan Xiangtangshan Anyang shiku 㺸̭Ҹ喑ܧ㮂ह̷喑ృ❵345喠ओ㺸Ȩ͚సⴠ⿌•
diaoke [Sculptures of the Gongxian, Tianlongshan, Xiangtangshan and Anyang caves], 䲼㍐ⴠ⿌ᄧȩ喑ࡄϙ喑1989Ꭱ喑ృ❵206 207喠
Beijing, 1989, pl. 23; or Gongxian shiku si [Gongxian cave temples], Beijing, 1963, pls 61-63. ࣷȨ͚స㒻㶀ڕ䯳ȩ喑ݺ䔝ܧ㮂喑ࢤ13喑ృ❵74ȡ
Apsaras are, however, rather di! erently depicted at Gongxian, # oating in mid-air; see ibid.,
ओ℁䐰̭Ⱕ䶋仃׼Ҹ喑䐶᫩ȨAn Exhibition of
pl. 345; Zhongguo shiku: Gongxian shiku si [Chinese cave temples. The cave temples of
Gongxian], Beijing, 1989, pls 206-207; and Zhongguo meishu quanji, op.cit., vol. 13, pl. 74. Chinese Stone Sculpturesȩ喑Ⱄ㟦呸喑㈽
㈱喑1940Ꭱ喑㌕㮌15喑ᒹਜ਼᫩㈽㈱㬴ჹ℁2003
Compare also a similar head, published in An Exhibition of Chinese Stone Sculptures, C.T.
Ꭱ9ᰵ17ᬒ喑㌕㮌16喑ܧ㜗䲼㍐喑䐶᫩Ȩ䲼㍐ⴠ
th
Loo & Co., New York, 1940, cat. no. 15, subsequently sold in these rooms, 17 September
⿌ȩ喑ࡄϙ喑2005Ꭱ喑䴮193喑ృ13ȡओ㺸̭ࡄ
2003, lot 16, and attributed to Gongxian, illustrated in Gongxian shiku [Cave temples
of Gongxian], Beijing, 2005, p. 193, " g. 13; and another Northern Wei head fragment, 偼仃׼⃅У喑ܧ㜗咺䪭ⴠ⿌䈀䮪≋喑䐶᫩Ȩᆞऐ
attributed to the Binyang cave at Longmen, published in Yamaguchi korekushion Chūgoku 㘦㙟㘢㘪㙚㙦͚సⴠ҈ȩ喑๔䭗ጯ⿸㒻㶀乕喑๔
sekibutsu ten [Exhibition of Chinese stone Buddhas from the Yamaguchi collection], Osaka 䭗喑1979Ꭱ喑㌕㮌71ȡ
City Museum of Fine Arts, Osaka, 1979, cat. no. 71.
ࣰ㔰䲼㍐҉Ҹ喑䰆㗖ϓ丫㜴᱙׼Ⱕ䓾͸ࢤ㈸喑♣㔹
Gongxian " gures also show similar curls on either side of the shoulders, but generally ๔็◧ږ䖀喑Ҹ㺸Ȩ䲼㍐ⴠ⿌ȩ喑ݺ䔝ܧ㮂喑䴮
only two on each side, see Gongxian shiku, op.cit., pp. 194-7, " gs 14, 17-22 and passim. The 194 7喑ృ14Ƞ17 22ࣷऱ㮂ȡ᱙׼㗹ٶఈক丫㨛
plump lotus buds, symbols of purity in Buddhism, which ad orn the image, " lling empty 㠋喑䆎ᓢ㉁⌕♎ᴀ喑⪝᫩ᄸ፥҉Ҹȡ㤖㫖᝸ᠮ㨛㟞
space around the halo, are unusual to " nd in this context. Lotus # owers are sometimes held
͸Ҹ喑᭯ᰶज㺸喑ຯ⩅㖲Ⅵ䲃㍐◠䱵ᄧⴠ⿌喑Ҹ
by bodhisattvas and can be seen, for example, in the Binglingsi caves in Yongjing county,
㺸Ȩ͚సⴠ⿌•Ⅵ䲃◠䱵ᄧȩ喑ࡄϙ喑1989Ꭱ喑ऱ
Gansu province, but are untypical of Longmen or Gongxian; see Zhongguo Shiku. Yongjing
㮂喑ѳ咺䪭ࣷ䲼㍐ⴠ⿌ݴ̺็㺸ȡ
Bingling si [Chinese cave temples. The cave temples of Bingling in Yongjing], Beijing, 1989,
passim. ᝡ⒑呸喍1910 1992喎喑ι࡮̓㈭䛺㺮͚స㬊ੳ͸
th
J.T. Tai (1910-1992) was one of the major Chinese art dealers of the 20 century, who ̭ȡι࡮ᎡА᱘᫩↌㬴♎䡘䌌䯕㜲❣ౕڣऑ㦐ᏄႥ
started working at his uncle’s antiques shop in Wuxi, Jiangsu province, from around the ፘ喑̶࡮ᎡА᫩̷⊤ޢẚ喑ρ࡮ᎡА⼨ᅲ㈽㈱䪸㽚
late 1920s, opened his own shop in Shanghai in the 1930s and moved to New York in 1950 ऑ㦐Ꮔȡ᪥࡮Ꭱҳ喑ᝡℼ̭Ⱑ҉◧ͨ㺮ऑ㦐ӈᛶੳ
to open a gallery there. For decades he remained one of the major suppliers of America’s ͸̭◧⪣᭯㽞็㒻సᩣ㫼๔უ᣽ӈγ๔䛼͚స㬊㶀
great collectors, among them Avery Brundage and Arthur M. Sackler. ⣺৮喑ڣ͚ࢠ࠲᠙ Avery Brundage Вࣷ Arthur
M Sackler ぶȡ
20 JINGYATANG: TREASURES OF CHINESE BUDDHIST SCULPTURE