Page 146 - 2019 October Important Chinese Art Sotheby's Hong Kong

The Northern Qi dynasty (550-577) was one of the most 北齊一朝，兼容並蓄外族文化、思想及信仰，本土風
vibrant periods in the history of Chinese art, both religious 貌因而大為充盈，無論宗教或非宗教藝術方面，均乃
and secular, as its openness towards foreigners, their 中國藝術史上最氣象鬱勃時期之一，佛教造像輝煌成
ideas, beliefs and goods immensely enriched the local 就在此一朝可謂登峰造極。北魏造像手法惟承南亞、
cultural climate. It was within this cosmopolitan climate
that Buddhist sculpture experienced perhaps its most 中亞範式，時至北齊乃臻成熟，自成一格。然鑑觀北
glorious moment. While in the Northern Wei dynasty (386- 齊造像，仍顯虔敬莊嚴，慈靜平和，尚未見唐代造像
534), manners of depiction were adapted from traditional 明快、婀娜之態。
South and Central Asian prototypes, in the Northern Qi
they had matured and developed into distinctive native 本像一腳舒腿下垂，另一腿盤起擱於下垂腿近膝處，
styles. However they still emanate the seriousness of strong 作半跏思惟姿。希臘沉思或哀悼雕像，早採相類托
religious beliefs, which were rooted in the political instability 腮撫臉之態，犍陀羅佛教造像也有見之。然採此類
of the mid-6th century, and had not yet moved towards the 造型之佛像身份一直未有定論，說法主要有二，一
pleasant and more decorative imagery of the Tang dynasty 為悉達多太子、二為乃彌勒菩薩。四至五世紀造像
(618-907). 多屬前者，但天保元年（550年）後隨著謨拜彌勒佛
The iconography of this exquisite gilt-bronze figure, depicted 的興起，菩薩塑像逐漸增加（見《走向盛唐》，大
seated with one leg down and the other crossed with the 都會藝術博物館，紐約，2004年，頁266）。雲岡第
foot resting on the other knee, is known as the ‘pensive 6窟有一採相近作半跏思惟姿之北魏雕像，應為悉達
pose’. The iconography appeared in Buddhist art from 多太子，圖見水野清一及長廣敏雄，《雲岡石窟》，
Gandhara, but had its roots in the Classical West, where 京都，1951-56年，卷3，圖版5，以及 Junghee Lee，
representations of thinkers and mourners in Greece are
depicted with head raised, and finger extended to the 〈The Origins and Development of the Pensive Bodhisattva
face. The identity of figures seated in this particular pose Images of Asia〉，《Artibus Asiae》，卷53，第3/4
has been the subject of debate and has traditionally been 期，1993年，圖12。彌勒佛，也作未來佛，採半跏思
recognised as either Prince Siddhartha (later the Buddha 惟姿，冥想最後一道輪迴即將到臨，以及未來得道之
Shakyamuni) or the bodhisattva Maitreya. While in the 4th 事。更多詳細討論，請見展覽圖錄《走向盛唐》，前
and 5th centuries this pose was indeed used to represent 述出處，頁266。
the former, after 550 it was increasingly used in conjunction
with Maitreya worship (see the catalogue to the exhibition 參考上海博物館藏唐代青銅半跏思惟菩薩像，圖載
China: Dawn of a Golden Age, 200-750 AD, The Metropolitan 於《中國美術全集．雕塑編》，卷4：隋唐雕塑，北
Museum of Art, New York, 2004, p. 266). A Northern Wei 京，1988，圖版55。另可比較經紐約蘇富比拍出之北
period carving of a princely figure seated in the ‘pensive’ 齊大理石雕思惟菩薩像，弟子立兩旁，據銘文乃製於
pose was carved in cave 6 at Yungang, illustrated in Mizuno
Seiichi and Nagahiro Toshio, Yun-kang, Kyoto, 1951-56, vol. 天保十年（559年），2018年9月12日，編號6。
3, pl. 5, and in Junghee Lee, ‘The Origins and Development
of the Pensive Bodhisattva Images of Asia’, Artibus Asiae,
vol. 53, no. 3/4, 1993, fig. 12. Often referred to as the
Future Buddha, Maitreya is a bodhisattva in the ‘pensive’
pose; in this position he is contemplating his impending
final reincarnation and future enlightenment. For further
discussion, see the catalogue to the exhibition China: Dawn
of a Golden Age, 200-750 AD, The Metropolitan Museum of
Art, New York, 2004, p. 266.
A Tang bronze figure of a pensive bodhisattva in the
Shanghai Museum is illustrated in Zhongguo Meishu Quanji.
Diaosu bian [The complete series on Chinese art. Sculpture],
vol. 4: Sui Tang Diaosu [Sculptures from the Sui and Tang
dynasties], Beijing, 1988, pl. 55. For an example in stone, see
the Northern Qi white marble triad of a pensive bodhisattva
flanked by two attendants, dated to 559, sold in our New
York rooms, 12th September 2018, lot 6.

144 SOTHEBY ’S IMPORTANT CHINESE ART