Page 25 - Contenplating the Divie Buddhist Art Christies Hong Kong

fig. 1 A gilt-bronze figure of Bodhisattva
Avalokitesvara, Sui Dynasty
Rogers Fund, 1912. Collection of The Metropolitan
Museum of Art
圖一 隋 鎏金銅菩薩立像
大都會博物館藏品

Tang (C.E. 618–907) times, and which gives the fullest 本拍品的新配木座相仿，這類蓮座的下層作覆蓮狀，體積較
account of Avalokitesvara, states that there are thirty-three 大，上層為仰蓮，體積較小。本尊若是單體成像，其原配蓮
manifestations of Avalokitesvara, of which seven are female.
座的樣式，應與紐約大都會藝術博物館藏近似鎏金銅菩薩之
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Lacking both inscription and specific iconographic attribute, 蓮座大同小異（登錄號 12.161）（圖一） 。但此像先前若是
this bodhisattva’s identity remains elusive. Although it might 群鋪式的話，其蓮座或與前述樣式相同，或為單層仰蓮座，
represent Avalokitesvara, the sculpture probably depicts
another, probably unnamed, bodhisattva. In fact, it is unlikely 以便將最華美的蓮座，留待神壇正中的佛陀使用。事實上，
that a bodhisattva, unnamed and without an identifying 向來只有知名度高、身份明確、香火鼎盛的菩薩才會單體造
attribute, would be depicted singly, a circumstance strongly 像，因此本尊很可能源自群鋪造像。再者，此像體態略顯 S
suggesting that this sculpture originally was part of a triad 形，姿勢狀若 C 字，形似開括弧「(」，可見它確有可能來自
三 尊 , paired with a Buddha and another bodhisattva, or
possibly was part of a group of Buddhist deities presented 群像，原立於居中佛陀身畔；若然如此，在尊卑有序、排列
on a gilt bronze altar table, the assemblage perhaps also 對稱的人物之中，佛陀身畔還會有一位對應的菩薩，其曲線
including monks, guardian figures, and apsaras 飛 天 , or 狀若左右相反的 C 字或閂括號「)」。鏡像般的兩尊菩薩恍若
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celestial figures akin to angels, hovering above. Many 抱合的景框，巧將佛陀框於其中。
bodhisattvas presented within a group of deities lack
identifying iconographic attributes; instead, the crowns of 此像法相莊嚴，其背光鏤雕而成，頭戴三葉冠， 面相方圓，
such bodhisattvas, like this one, often bear a disc at the front
representing a jewel, the jewel sometimes surrounded by a 五官集中，雙目平視，冠側繒帶飄垂兩肩，胸前瓔珞琳瑯，
ring of pearls. 6 珠鏈長垂逾膝，身上帔帛層疊交錯，繞兩臂並沿雙腿垂至足
邊，線條曼妙，末端狀若燕尾，據種種跡象看來，此作應出
The tenons that project downward from the feet indicate
that this sculpture, whether presented singly or as part of 自隋代（公元 518 至 618 年），即六世紀末或七世紀初的作
an ensemble, originally stood on a lotus pedestal. If the 品。菩薩的面部與寶繒及其軀幹與手臂之間均有鏤雕處理，
sculpture in fact was a stand-alone image, the pedestal 使人物更富於動態，觀之栩栩如生，這類風格源於北齊（公
might have been two-tiered, like the modern wooden 元 550 至 577 年），但當時僅是小試牛刀，及至隋代才廣泛
pedestal which now accompanies it, with a larger, inverted
lotus blossom comprising the lower tier, and a smaller, 運用於石雕和鎏金銅雕。菩薩的重量若均勻分佈兩腿，其細
properly oriented blossom the upper tier. A closely related, 長珠串的朵花應垂於兩腿之間，但本尊體態略呈 S 形，身姿
gilt bronze sculpture representing Guanyin and now in the 狀若 C 字，所以珠串下垂的線條並不對稱，致使朵花垂於左
collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York 紐 腿之前。這種表現手法別出心裁，既摒棄了此前的對稱構圖，
約大都會博物館 (fig. 1), reveals the type of pedestal on which
this bodhisattva might have stood if originally a stand- 亦預示了即將興起的唐風造像。日本私人珍藏中有一例唐初
alone sculpture (accession number 12.161). On the other 觀音立像，其珠串下垂的線條亦不對稱，前述新風格的影響
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hand, if the sculpture originally figured as part of a group 一覽無遺。
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