Page 70 - Fine Chinese Art Bonhams London May 2018

THE PROPERTY OF A GENTLEMAN
士紳藏品
Lots 62 - 63

62
A GREY LIMESTONE STONE TORSO
OF A BODHISATTVA
Tang Dynasty
Gracefully carved standing sensuously in a
pronounced tribhanga pose with left hip leaning
out to the side and the right knee slightly bent,
the voluptuous body adorned with a clinging
diaphanous dhoti, tied at the chest, pleated at the
front and falling in graceful folds over the legs, the
elaborate necklace encircling the neck crisply carved
with floral medallions and lozenges hanging from
plaited and beaded chains, mounted.
73cm (28 6/8in) high.

£30,000 - 50,000
CNY270,000 - 450,000

唐 石灰岩菩薩身像
Provenance: An Italian private collection

來源： 意大利私人收藏

The dynamic posture of the present figure,
conveying a sense of movement through a particular
posture known as tribhangha, where more weight
of the body is placed on one leg to cause the
opposite hip to angle upwards, is a classic example
of Buddhist sculpture modelled during the Tang
dynasty. This naturalistic pose, further emphasised
by the elegant rendering of the thin garments, gently
clinging to the contours of the body and embellished
with beaded jewellery, was formerly employed to
depict bodhisattvas in Central Asia and India, before
it became absorbed into Tang China.

Compare with a similar stone figure of a bodhisattva
illustrated by O.Siren, Kinas Kunst Under Tre
Artusenden, vol.2, Stockholm, 1943, fig.73A. A
similar grey stone figure of a bodhisattva, Tang
dynasty, was sold at Christie’s New York, 21
September 2004, lot 134.

For details of the charges payable in addition to the final Hammer Price of each Lot
68 | BONHAMS please refer to paragraphs 7 & 8 of the Notice to Bidders at the back of the catalogue.