Page 124 - Important Chinese Art Sothebys March 2019

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A RARE GILT-BRONZE FIGURE OF the closing of the northern Wei period, and the examples cited above, in addition to the
AVALOKITESHVARA carries stylistic elements that represent the present gilt-bronze figure, all exhibit signs of
NORTHERN WEI DYNASTY, contemporary cultural and social changes of the late northern Wei sinification, in contrast
DATED TO THE FIRST YEAR its time. with those of the early northern Wei period.
the stylistic differences are clearly seen in the
OF THE ZHONGXING PERIOD, the Imperial family of the northern Wei were rendering of the clothing. Consider a gilt-bronze
CORRESPONDING TO 531 famously pious Buddhists. the monumental figure of a standing Buddha, dated 475, now
cave sculptures at Yungang in shanxi province,
modeled standing before a flame-shaped and Longmen near Luoyang in henan province, preserved at shijiazhuang, hebei provincial
museum, illustrated in Lin shuzhong, Zhongguo
mandorla on a rounded pedestal base, the are towering testimonies to the effort and meishu quanji: Diaosu bian (Complete series
bodhisattva dressed in long flowing robes importance given to the production of Buddhist on Chinese art: sculpture), vol. 3, Beijing, 1988,
flaring out to the sides, with the right arm raised icons with the aim of attaining spiritual merit.
and holding a lotus stem, the left hand lowered, as is commonly seen, the imperial examples pl. 88. the rounded pleats of the robe adhere
closely to examples in Gandharan sculpture,
the head set with a tiara and framed by a influenced the commoners’ practices, and as well as the visibility of the body beneath
circular halo, the larger mandorla decorated many extant sculptures still bear the dedicatory the clinging garment. the present figure,
with peaked flames extending up to the pointed inscriptions of their commissioners, hoping
tip, all supported by a splayed four-legged to accrue merit and blessings. the present conversely, wears loose, voluminous robes with
flowing sashes, hiding the body completely.
support inscribed with a dedicatory inscription figure is a clear example, with a dedication the robes flow away from the body, angling
dated to the first year of the Zhongxing period, naming avalokiteshvara by name, Guanshiyin, out into swallow-tail ends and tapering corners.
corresponding to 531, wood stand, Japanese inscribed to the back of its supporting stand.
wood box (4) Compare a related figure dated to the third year this treatment of the garments is clearly seen
in two other northern Wei gilt-bronze figures
height 5⅛ in., 13 cm of taiping, corresponding to 536 of the eastern now preserved at the metropolitan museum
Wei dynasty, only six years after the casting of
PROVENANCE the present example, illustrated in Rijucho jidai of art, new York, illustrated in Denise patry
Japanese private Collection, Kansai, prior to no Kondobutsu (Gilt-bronze Buddhas of the Leidy, Wisdom Embodied: Chinese Buddhist and
Daoist Sculpture in the Metropolitan Museum
World War II. six Dynasties period), Izumishi Kubosou Kinen of Art, new haven, 2010, cat. nos 7a and 7b,
museum, Izumi, 1991, cat. no. 100. Compare as
the northern Wei dynasty (386-534), founded well a similar figure of avalokiteshvara in the dated 524 and attributed to circa 525-535,
by the tuoba clan of the Xianbei ethnic group, Freer sackler Galleries, smithsonian Institution, respectively, where the garments are described
was from its onset a tumultuous period Washington D.C., acc. no. F1909.264, with as ‘the tail of a fish’.
encompassing Xianbei and han Chinese similar treatment of the flame-like striations
traditions. tuoba Gui (r. 386-409) ruled by to the mandorla, and a similarly proportioned $ 60,000-80,000
employing both tuoba and han Chinese figure, but with ribbons on the crown and more
officials at court and set a precedent for his pronounced crossed sashes, dated to the third 北魏中興元年（531年） 銅鎏金
successors. the tuoba were allied with other year of the shengui period, corresponding to 觀世音立像
non-han northerners and tibetan groups at the 520, illustrated in saburo matsubara, Chinese
time of tuoba Gui’s rule, and further trade with Buddhist Sculpture: A study based on bronze 銘文：
western neighbors throughout the era ensured and stone statues other than works from cave 仲興元年九月十日比丘尼竫暈上為□妹造
that subjects enjoyed a cultural richness temples, tokyo, 1966, pl. 47. Both of these 觀世音像一區茲為妹夫其天同賓
reflected in surviving artifacts from the period. figures also bear inscriptions that name
the present gilt-bronze figure, dated to the first avalokiteshvara by name, Guanshiyin.
year of the Zhongxing reign, corresponding 來源
to the year 530, was created on the eve of 日本私人收藏，關西，二戰之前

122 SOTHEBY’S Important ChInese art