Page 62 - September 11 2018 Junkunc Collection Sculpture

6 A WHITE MARBLE INSCRIBED TRIAD GROUP
NORTHERN QI DYNASTY, DATED TIANBAO TENTH YEAR, CORRESPONDING TO 559
ࡄ呷 ๖Ԋ࡮Ꭱ喍559Ꭱ喎 ๔⤳ⴠ䰂ᕊᘌ㤖㫖̶ᄷ׼
the central Buddhist deity seated in the ‘pensive pose’ on a throne with the proper right leg crossed over the left
knee, the right hand and index finger raised to the face in a gesture of deep contemplation, the head crowned,
with long sashes hanging over the shoulders and the body dressed in long robes cascading in rounded folds over
the legs, the throne backed by a circular mandorla and flanked by two attendant bodhisattvas standing serenely
in prayer with smaller mandorlas and simple monk’s robes, each figure supported by a tiered, stepped circular
double-base underfoot, further supported by a rectangular base, all carved from a single stone, the plinth side
and back inscribed with a dedicatory inscription dated to the intercalary month of the tenth year of Tianbao,
corresponding to 559, the reverse of the main mandorla with traces of a polychrome painted scene including a
haloed deity figure
Height 14 in., 36 cm

$ 300,000-500,000

The inscription can be translated as:

On the intercalary month of the tenth year of the Tianbao reign, Bhikkhu Yuxian, Bhikkhu Daoyou respectfully
made a white jade [marble] statue for His Majesty the Emperor, and also for teachers, monks, men and women;
all living beings of the Dharmadhatu, with souls and conscious, together attain Buddhahood over time.

䟅᪴喟
๖Ԋ࡮Ꭱ⒑ᰵ ℁ͅ⻧⢨℁ͅ䖀გ᪙䕍⮪⢶׼̭䏭 ̷◧⮴ፊ䮈̸ ࣵ◧ፘؔ❣⃺ ∂⩹Ⱬ⩌ क़䱵៞䂅 Ԟ᭯᜽҈

PROVENANCE ҳ⎽
Collection of Stephen Junkunc, III (d. 1978). ट㦯㟙ɀ⧷㗜̶̓喍 Ꭱ䕊喎ᩣ㫼

60 JUNKUNC: CHINESE BUDDHIST SCULPTURE