Page 83 - September 11 2018 Junkunc Collection Sculpture
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In such times of a more restrained imperial support of the Buddhist cause, sculptors may, however, also
have felt the need to appeal to private donors and thus to accentuate an attractive physical appearance
of Buddhist deities. The present figure with its deliberate indication of a well-formed, youthful, swaying
body, the weight clearly shifted to one leg, the fleshy yet compact torso exposed and the legs clearly
visible under a thin, clinging garment, is a prime example of High Tang Buddhist imagery in stone. While
the figure is depicted as genderless and not specifically identified as the bodhisattva Avalokitesvara,
the opulent coiffure suggests a female deity and the benevolent face clearly evokes the ‘Bodhisattva of
Compassion’, better known as the Goddess of Mercy, Guanyin.
Although this sculpture stands firmly in the stylistic context of its period, very few closely related works
appear to have survived. Even if similarities with contemporary cave sculptures found in situ are obvious,
since their style dominated the arts and crafts of the period, variations of facial expression, jewelry
and dress are to be expected on free-standing sculptures produced by locally working craftsmen.
Bodhisattva figures depicted in a comparable manner can be seen, for example, at the Tianlongshan
Caves near Taiyuan in Shanxi, one of the smaller ensembles of rock carvings in north China, with only
twenty-one caves. Carving here continued from the end of the Northern Wei right through to the Tang.
The faces carved in the somewhat coarse stone are characterized by particularly soft features, and
some caves are renowned for their flamboyant Tang carvings in the fully matured Chinese carving style
of the High Tang period. Compare three bodhisattva figures from Tianlongshan, one in situ, illustrated in
Tianlongshan shiku [Tianlongshan rock caves], Beijing, 2003, pl. 124]; another in the Boston Museum
of Fine Arts (37.329) (fig. 1); and the third, lacking its head, in the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco
(René-Yvon Lefebvre d’Argencé, ed., Chinese, Korean and Japanese Sculpture in the Avery Brundage
Collection, San Francisco, 1974, pl. 108). The Tianlongshan bodhisattvas are, however, characterized by a
more voluptuous roundness of the faces as well as the bodies.
In its general pose and indication of physique the present sculpture can also be compared to two
bodhisattva figures of similar date attributed to the Longmen Caves, both formerly also in the Junkunc
Collection, sold at Christie’s New York, 21st September 1995, lots 301 and 302; the former illustrated in
Osvald Sirén, Chinese Sculpture from the Fifth to the Fourteenth Century, London, 1925 (reprint Bangkok,
1998), pl. 464, and sold again Christie’s New York, 16th September 1999, lot 18; the latter previously sold
at Sotheby’s London, 22nd November 1946, lot 56. These Longmen figures, however, display a much
more solid physique.
䏭ཉ喑㌇᷊ᴁ䯲喑䏘倁䛺ᓰ㒛̭֡喑㚦㚝䅽㉝ 咺ᆞⴠ⿌ȩ喑ࡄϙ喑2003Ꭱ喑ృ❵124喠ओ̭Ҹ⤫
㌨喑㶐㶺㏃㪱䇩䏘喑䯞䱟䰆㚬喑ₐᆙⰈⴠ䰂ҠҸȡ ႅ∏ธ䵀㒻㶀ࢇ➖乕喍37 329喎喍ృ̭喎喠Ҹ̶
᱙䰃♎ᬻⷧᕔݒ➦ᓢ喑♣ڣ仃倛倨㤜叄喑㶕ᬻ◧ ⤫ႅ㜷䛾ᆞϋ≟㬊㶀ࢇ➖乕喑㑧仃喍René Yvon
ຠᕔᒏ喑䲏ღᙵহ喑Ꭰ䲉ᖙ䯲喑ᛶ◧㻭䴠ᒏȡ Lefebvre dăArgencé ㌕喑ȨChinese Korean
and Japanese Sculpture in the Avery Brundage
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Collectionȩ喑㜷䛾ᆞ喑1974Ꭱ喑ృ❵108喎ȡ᪡倁
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ᴁহ喑ڣ͚䘕Ъⴠ䰂䷕ᵩ㤜叄喑ᆙⰈ᭯ȡ℁䐰 ㌕㮌301ࣷ302喠ݺ㔲䐶ૉϮ咺喑ȨChinese
๖咺ᆞⴠ⿌̶ᄷ҉Ҹ喑ڣ̭Ѻ࣌౭喑ృ䐶Ȩ๖ Sculpture from the Fifth to the Fourteenth
12 SEPTEMBER 2018 SOTHEBY’S NEW YORK 81
