Page 257 - 2019 September 11th Sotheby's Important Chinese Art

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PROPERTY OF A NEW YORK PRIVATE COLLECTOR
A POLYCHROME STUCCO FRESCO FRAGMENT
YUAN / MING DYNASTY
painted with a celestial maiden dancing amidst cloud swirls,
swaying with head tilted back, one arm gracefully arced and
the other extended, adorned in loose robes and billowing
sashes that flutter with the movement, the fleshy rounded
face with a serene expression, the hair elaborately styled and
accented with jewels, all in shades of red, ochre, green, and
black, framed and glazed
30⅝ by 17⅞ in., 77.5 by 45.5 cm

PROVENANCE
Collection of Albert M. Bender (1866-1941).
University of California, Berkeley Art Museum, 1933,
deaccessioned in 2001.
Christie’s New York, 17th September 2008, lot 378.
The dancer’s graceful movements are reflected in the
calligraphic swirls of her robes and ribbons, and further
echoed in the billowing clouds behind. Painted in a Tang
style, the present fresco is inspired by earlier depictions
of Buddhist deities, such as those in the Mogao Grottoes
at Dunhuang. Compare the sculpture and murals in Cave
57, illustrated in Roderick Whitfield et. al., Cave Temples of
Mogao. Art and History on the Silk Road, Los Angeles, 2000,
p. 37, as well as ornamentation and attire of the bodhisttva in
cave 199, illustrated in Chang Shuhong, The Art Treasures of
Dunhuang, Hong Kong and New York, 1981, pl. 78.
Compare a closely related fragment, also from the
collections of Albert Bender and the Berkeley Art Museum,
sold at Christie’s New York, 17th September 2008, lot 379.
The similar style of painting, seen in the treatment of the
clouds, robes, and faces, suggest that it may be from the
same series as the present. Another related pair of frescoes
from the collection of Fred Olsen, with two celestial maidens,
one dancing and the other playing a dizi, sold in these rooms,
12th September 2018, lot 200. An example painted with a
denser cloud ground sold in these rooms, 18th October 1945,
lot 437 (part lot), and again on 22nd March 2001, lot 19.
See also three fragments sold at Christie’s New York, 21st
September 2000, lots 201 and 202 (pair).
$ 30,000-50,000

元 / 明 灰泥彩繪天女圖壁畫殘部
來源
Albert M. Bender (1866-1941) 收藏
加利福尼亞大學，柏克萊藝術博物館，1933年，由博
物館於2001年售出
紐約佳士得2008年9月17日，編號378

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