Page 72 - SOTHEBYS MARCH 18 AND 19 2025

157
A MARBLE TORSO OF BUDDHA, LATE 北齊 / 隋 大理石雕佛身像
NORTHERN QI / SUI DYNASTY
Height 16 in., 40.6 cm 來源
藍理捷，紐約，2002年3月
PROVENANCE
J.J. Lally & Co., New York, March 2002.
Simple yet spellbinding, this finely rendered torso exudes the
princely yet serene grandeur of the Buddha it once depicted.
With gently sloping shoulders and a flowing robe gathered
in stiff yet tactile folds around the figure’s feet, the present
lot is a particularly fine and rare example of sculpture from
the late Northern dynasties. The present torso is especially
remarkable in its close attention to detail in the rendering of
the Buddha’s sanghati robe. Gliding gently over his shoulder,
tied with a string, and gathered loosely above his left arm,
the stiff marble ‘fabric’ is brought to life by the sculptor’s
skillful hand.
It is rare to find a figure of this period, in any condition, with
such lifelike rendering. Compare a related larger standing
figure of the Shakyamuni Buddha attributed to the late
6th century in the Saint Louis Art Museum (accession no.
182:1919); another, attributed to the Northern Qi, with a
similarly tied robe, included in The Art of Contemplation -
Religious Sculpture from Private Collections, National Palace
Museum, Taipei, 1997, cat. no. 28; and another, also larger,
of almost identical style, in the collection of the Museum of
Far Eastern Antiquities, Stockholm, in Osvald Sirén, ‘Chinese
Marble Sculptures of the Transition Period’, BMFEA, 1940,
no. 12, pl. VIIIa, in which the author describes the decade
between the early 570s and the year 585 as a particular high
point in the history of Buddhist sculpture.
$ 60,000-80,000

140 SOTHEBY’S COMPLETE CATALOGUING AVAILABLE AT SOTHEBYS.COM/N11744 A COLLECTING JOURNEY: THE JANE AND LEOPOLD SWERGOLD COLLECTION 141