Page 97 - Sotheby's Junkunc Collection March 2019

his figure is regal in countenance and adornment, its expression and idealized features
counterbalanced by a tall and richly carved crown and sumptuous jewelry. Immediately
Tit induces a sense of awe and contemplation to those that lay eyes on it, as described in a
short article from 1915 in the The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art where this sculpture featured:

Is there anything wanting in the dignity of this figure, in the grandeur of conception, in the
sculptural effect, in the proportion, or in the adornments which so closely resemble the real?
Here we have something concrete, and not merely a strange expression of foreign religious
thought. We readily associate tenderness, compassion and mercy with this beautiful god.
Rather than lamenting the left hand which is gone, let us look at the softness of the brow where
the hair is artfully caught back under the headpiece, at the fullness of the cheek and neck, and
the gracefully draped ropes of jewels. Is it not beautiful!

Since the introduction of Buddhism in the first century AD, images of Buddha and bodhisattva were
believed to be imbued with the spiritual presence of the deity they depicted, and served as bridges
between the deity and devotees. Helmut Brinker in ‘Early Buddhist Art in China’, Return of the Buddha.
The Qingzhou Discoveries, Royal Academy of Art, London, 2002, pp. 20-33, discusses the role of
Buddhist images and suggests that their making ‘was not primarily an artistic act…it was the realization
of a sacred image’ (p. 22). Sacred text and Buddhist images brought back to China by monks who
traveled through India and Central Asia, provided strict guidance for the making of these images.
Depictions of bodhisattva wearing sumptuous jewelry, such as the present figure, derived from detailed
descriptions in religious texts.

此像面容莊嚴沉靜，衣飾精美華麗，珠圍翠繞，身形婀娜高挑，發冠雕刻精緻，令人觀之頓生崇敬之感、虔誠
之心。正如1915年克利夫蘭美術館《The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art》文中所述：

此像神態之逼真，面容之莊重，花飾之華美，雕工之精湛，比例之完美，堪稱絕代，無有可比。
菩薩乃慈悲憐憫，普渡眾生之化身，今此像栩栩立於眼前，便可一窺遙遠異國宗教之精髓。左臂
雖殘，然面部線條之飽滿，眉目刻畫之柔美，霧鬢風鬟，衣裙華貴，著實美哉！
佛教自公元一世紀引入中國以來，佛像即深受重視，像亦含其神，乃佛祖菩薩與眾生溝通之橋樑。Helmut
Brinker 於其文〈Early Buddhist Art in China〉中曾指出，佛像並非單純藝術創作，亦乃佛教精髓之體現，
見《Return of the Buddha. The Qingzhou Discoveries》，皇家藝術學院，倫敦，2002年，頁22-33。佛
經與佛像最初由僧人西行印度及中亞各地帶回，為後世佛像創作提供嚴格指導。如本像所見，菩薩衣飾富麗華
貴乃遵循佛經中之細節描繪，精美珠寶體現極致繁華，更襯托其超然脫俗、平和恬淡之心境。

19 MARCH 2019 SOTHEBY’S NEW YORK 95