Page 148 - September 11 2018 Junkunc Collection Sculpture
P. 148

Comparable sandstone sculptures are hard to find, particularly of this size. This sublime and sensitively
                      rendered sculpture can be placed in the context of other sculptures from the Tianlongshan Caves,
                      Shanxi province, and most closely related to the sculpture from Cave 16, traditionally assigned to the
                      Northern Qi dynasty; see several bodhisattva heads published in Tianlongshan shi ku [Tianlongshan
                      grottoes], Beijing, 2004, pls 145-147, 151 and 156. Further related heads believed to have come from
                      Tianlongshan include one in the Minneapolis Museum of Art, Minneapolis, coll. no. MIA.L2015.172.8; and
                      two in the Nezu Museum, Tokyo, coll. nos NZM.20081 and NZM.20065. Compare also a carved figure of
                      Guanyin in the Detroit Institute of Arts, accession no. 26.128, dated by inscription to 581 and attributed to
                      Shaanxi or Henan province by Osvald Sirén in Chinese Sculpture from the Fifth to the Fourteenth Century,
                      vols 1 and 4, New York, 1925, pl. 305.

                      After his visit to the site in 1922, Osvald Sirén observed, that the sandstone used to carve the
                      Tianlongshan figures was extremely fragile, making them particularly prone to damage and loss of detail,
                      noting that ‘the stone at T’ien Lung shan is of a soft sandy quality and has comparatively little power of
                      resistance. Some of the statues have been eaten away in part by water’ (ibid., p.55). The soft and supple
                      nature of the sandstone utilized in the carving of the Tianlongshan sculptures makes them especially
                      fragile, but it is also the key to their sheer beauty and sensitive naturalism, as is evidenced by the present
                      head.






















                      ⴯ᇖⴠ䰂僛ᰶ᱙׼͸䶋㔲喑๔ᄼຯ᫜㔲ᰡ㒂ȡ᱙׼                  䠱ȨChinese  Sculpture  from  the  Fifth  to  the
                      䰂ጒᄖᙻ喑ໆⰥ㢷௡喑ज㜴ᆞ㺬๖咺ᆞⴠ⿌℁ᄺ喑                  Fourteenth  Centuryȩ喑ࢤ1ࣷ4喑㈽㈱喑1925Ꭱ喑
                      ́㜴16⿌᫤Аࡄ呷͸䕍׼⩇◧Ⱕ䓾喠ज㺸ᎫҸ㤖㫖                 ృ❵305ȡ
                      仃׼喑䐶Ȩ๖咺ᆞⴠ⿌ȩ喑ࡄϙ喑2004Ꭱ喑ృ❵
                                                              1922Ꭱ喑ૉϮ咺ᄓౝ䕍㽗ᒹ㾂䔝๖咺ᆞ䕍׼᝭⩕⴯
                      145 147Ƞ151ࣷ156ȡⰥ䶋仃׼ओᰶ̶Ҹ喑ᨇנ౴
                                                              ᇖẢ◧㘳ᑞ喑ᩲ็ᰶ⃅᤺㑧๞ȡڣᰥ͚㽅Ȫ๖咺ᆞ͸
                      ܧ㜗๖咺ᆞ喑ڣ̭喑䇜ᬻᅩϋ∏ݖ᫜㒻㶀乕喑ᬻᅩϋ
                                                              ⴠ喑䈗䐌क़⴯喑䐰䰐ោ᤺ȡᰶ䕍׼ᅭ䘕ጟऄⅡ䟤㲂
                      ∏ݖ᫜喑㌕㮌MIA L2015 172 8喠ڣ久ιҸ喑㫼ᵦ≒
                                                              喍ݺ䔝ܧ㮂喑䴮55喎ȡ఍᝭⩕⴯ᇖ倳䐌जൾ喑๖咺
                      㒻㶀乕喑Პϙ喑㌕㮌NZM 20081ࣷNZM 20065ȡ
                      Ϻ℁̭㻭䴠׼喑㧱Ꮒ➦ᒸ㒻㶀乕喑乕㫼㌕㮌26 128,              ᆞ䕍׼䰃ᭀ᠈⃭᤺喑♣ڣ⻭䕥͸༬Ƞ䱵ࠂ͸ᙸ喑ᰶຯ
                                                              ᱙׼喑ϓᓄ⯷᫩ₑȡ
                      䟅᪴㈭581Ꭱ喑ᨇૉϮ咺ⵁ⾣喑㈨䮊㺬ᝃ⇠ࢄ᝭ܧ喑








           146  JUNKUNC: CHINESE BUDDHIST SCULPTURE
   143   144   145   146   147   148   149   150   151   152   153