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SCULPTURE DE BOUDDHA Of small size, the present fragment is characteristic of
MAITREYA EN CALCAIRE GRIS Longmen sculpure with its attenuated form, slightly forward
DYNASTIE DES WEI DU NORD, pose and its cascading drapery falling over the body in low
VIE SIÈCLE, GROTTES DE LONGMEN relief. Similar sculptures in situ can be found in some of the
earliest caves executed at Longmen, such as the famous
assis en bhadrasana, la main droite levée en abhaya mudra, Guyang cave begun when the Northern Wei rulers moved
la gauche reposant sur le genou, vêtu d’une longue robe their capital from Datong to Luoyang in AD 494, and thereby
monastique tombant en d’élégant plis aux pieds, le long transferred their patronage from the Yungang monastery to
visage à l’expression sereine aux lèvres charnues dessinant un that at Longmen because of its proximity to the new capital.
sourire, les yeux mi-clos, anqué de longs lobes d’oreilles, la
tête surmontée d’un haut chignon, socle en bois (2) Compare other examples of low-relief gures, arguably
34,2 cm, 13½ in. identi able with the Guyang Cave, seated in the more common
cross-legged pose traditionally associated with Maitreya,
PROVENANCE beneath a widening skirt with attened, rippling, pleated
With Yamanaka, New York, 1940s. hems, illustrated in Longmen liu diaoxiang ji, Shanghai, 1993,
Ching Wah Lee, San Francisco, 1960.
Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Malcolm McPherson, New York. gs. 7, 8, 11 and 13. Compare another gure in the collection
Christie’s New York, 17th September 2008, lot 573. of the Norton Museum of Art, Palm Beach, illustrated by J.
Finlay, The Chinese Collection: Selected Works from the Norton
EXHIBITED Museum of Art, West Palm Beach, 2003, cat. no. 48. A closely
San Francisco, Hall of Flowers, Treasures of the Orient, Society related gure excavated from the Longmen site is illustrated
for Asian Art, 1979, no. 34. in Zhongguo Meishu Quanji, Diaosu, 11, Longmen shiku diaoke,
Beijing, 1988, g. 49. A gure with a posture more similar to
A rare grey limestone gure of the Buddha Maitreya, the present lot, is illustrated ibid., g. 48. The latter is also
Northern Wei Dynasty, early 6th century, Longmen caves, similar to another Longmen Maitreya in the Western pose,
Henan formerly in the collection of Avery Brundage, now preserved
in the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, and illustrated by
120 000-150 000 € d’Argence, Chinese, Korean and Japanese Sculpture in the
Avery Brundage Collection, Tokyo, 1974, g. 40.
1 020 000-1 280 000 HK$ 131 000-164 000 US$

1940 573
1960
Malcolm McPherson
2008 9 17

1979 34

78 SOTHEBY’S