Page 135 - Important Chinese Art Sothebys March 2019

richly decorated stele became an important Buddhist this stele bears an inscription with a cyclical date
sculptural medium from the 5th century a.D., when corresponding to 561, and is therefore an early example
Buddhism spread throughout China and gave rise to the of northern Zhou lapidary art. the fall of the northern
formation of Buddhist devotional societies. this sculptural Wei dynasty and subsequent political and military unrest
medium is discussed by Dorothy C. Wong in Chinese had a profound effect on Buddhism and its art forms. the
Steles. Pre-Buddhist and Buddhist Use of a Symbolic Form, provinces of Gansu, parts of shanxi, sichuan and hunan,
honolulu, 2004, who traces their origins to ceremonial steles which in 533 had been annexed by the Western Wei, fell
or stone slabs used in the shang and Zhou dynasties (p. to the northern Zhou, while the northern Qi dynasty took
15). From the 3rd century, stele were often erected in public control of the provinces in eastern China. sculptures of this
spaces or within temple courtyards, where they had the period exhibit a tendency towards rounder bodies, thinner
symbolic function of encouraging social unity and marking a clothing and softer facial features as carvers took inspiration
community’s identity. By the 5th century, the commissioning from works of the Gupta school. the figures on this stele,
of Buddhist images in the form of sculptures and stele was however, still exhibit many characteristics of the northern
also considered an act of personal devotion and a means to Wei dynasty, as exemplified by examples at the Longmen
accumulate merits linked to a person’s future life. Caves, henan province, which were heavily inspired by
the Indian schools of Gandhara and mathura. the overall
the rise of Buddhist devotional societies held an important
role in the development of regional religious art. During linearity of the composition evident in the rendering of the
robes, and the figures’ slightly elongated faces and faint
the northern Wei dynasty, state-sponsorship of Buddhism smiles display the continuation of the northern Wei style.
enabled the rapid spread of the religion throughout northern
China. Lay Buddhists organized themselves into voluntary Buddhist sculptures from this period are rare, although this
groups and associated with local temples. these groups piece shares similarities with a stele inscribed with a cyclical
were among the first to adopt stone tablets to record their date corresponding to 564, but carved with a Buddha
faith, erecting ‘Buddhist steles that served as monuments and two bodhisattvas, in the masaki art museum, osaka,
commemorating the collective groups’ religious, social, and included in the exhibition Chinese Buddhist Stone Sculpture.
territorial identity’ (ibid., p. 43). By the 6th century, these Veneration of the Sublime, osaka municipal museum of art,
groups became the chief patrons of steles, with a smaller osaka, 1995, cat. no. 125, together with a stele attributed to
number sponsored by individual donors and families. the the Western Wei period, that features a similar treatment of
popularity of steles is attributable to the easy accessibility the facial features, in the tokyo national museum, tokyo,
of stone and its relatively small size. these two factors gave ibid., cat. no. 101. see also a stele in the museum of Fine art,
rise to a multitude of regional workshops, many of which Boston, acc. no. 10.275; and one recovered in Zhengzhou,
developed their own style. henan province, included in the exhibition Cina alla Corte
degli Imperatori, palazzo strozzi, Florence, 2008, cat. no. 22.
the Buddha’s robe in the latter two examples falls over the
left arm in a similar manner.

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