Page 13 - Contenplating the Divie Buddhist Art Christies Hong Kong

fig. 1 Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian fig. 2 Fujita Museum Collection, sold at Christie’s New York, 15 March 2017,
Institution, Washington D.C.: Gift of Eugene and Agnes E. Meyer, F1968.54 Lot 529
圖一 華盛頓弗利爾博物館藏品 圖二 藤田美術館舊藏 紐約佳士得 2017 年 3 月 15 日 拍品 529 號

2852 Continued

The iconography of this stele was popular during the Northern 一佛二菩薩背屏式造像，佛高肉髻，圓形波狀髮，身披通肩袈裟，內著僧
Dynasties and can be seen on a number of comparable steles, 祇支，胸前打結，手施無畏和與願印。佛和左右脅侍菩薩採用高浮雕，主
however, it is very rare to find an inscribed stele from this period 尊的頭光淺浮雕雙層蓮瓣，背屏上的佛光、火焰紋和伎樂飛天則採用陰線
that has remained in good condition. Compare to a larger Northern 淺刻。背屏巧妙地將佛、菩薩、飛天連接起來 , 同時又表現出了造像的縱
Wei stele without an inscription in the collection of Freer Gallery 深和空間層次。佛與菩薩足下分踏蓮台，光素的長方體台座。造像整體展
of Art gifted by Eugene and Agnes E. Meyer, accession number
F1968.54 (fig. 1), which has been dated circa 520s. The Freer and 現出北魏清瘦雅致向東魏圓潤飽滿的風格過渡期特色。
current steles are remarkably similar in style, especially in the 本尊造像的雕刻風格與美國弗利爾博物館藏的一尊北魏釋迦立像相類似
detailed depiction of the nimbus and halo. The rather flattened style （圖一），主尊形體豐滿高大，高肉髻線刻波狀紋，面相方正，褒衣博帶，
of the robes with flared skirts are characteristic of this period.
衣褶線條圓潤規整。雙手分別施無畏印及與願印。不同之處是：美國弗利
Compare, also, to a slightly smaller marble triad (60.6 cm.) with 爾博物館藏這尊造像，二脅侍菩薩立于下方有力士托舉的蓮台之上，佛與
an inscription dated to the second year of Xiaochang era (526), 菩薩之間以陰線淺刻二弟子像。此外，也可比較：藤田博物館舊藏的北魏
formerly in the Fujita Museum, sold at Christie’s New York, 15 孝昌二年（西元 526 年）比丘法興造黃花石釋迦坐像（圖二），菩薩形
March 2017, lot 529 (fig. 2); and another Northern Wei stele 體均略小，亦十分精細。
dated to 525, identified as being from Xianwen Maio, Qingzhou,
Shandong province, illustrated by Sirén, Chinese Sculpture from the
Fifth to the Fourteenth Century, 1998, vol. I, p. 36, no. 161.
See also other related examples of this iconography in various sizes,
all dated Eastern Wei, in the Cleveland Museum of Art, Victoria
and Albert Museum and The Asian Art Museum of San Francisco,
illustrated in Hai-wai Yi-chen: Chinese Art in Overseas Collections,
Buddhist Sculpture II, National Palace Museum, Taipei, 1990, pp.
37-39, nos. 34-36, respectively.
The sculptures discovered in a large cache at the Longxing Temple,
Qingzhou, Shandong, in 1996, also included stele of Northern
Wei to Northern Qi date that have the same iconography. See,
Masterpieces of Buddhist Statuary from Qingzhou City, The National
Museum of Chinese History, Qingzhou Municipal Museum, Beijing,
1999, pp. 56-73.

9