Page 83 - March 23, 2022 Sotheby's NYC Fine Chinese Works of Art
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Some Longmen bodhisattvas are equally rendered as 本對造像異常珍罕,彰顯唐代藝術造詣。佛像造型柔
graceful beings, standing in relaxed poses, with a slight 麗,雕工精細,法相莊嚴,笑容慈悲,身軀略向側
sway to the body and performing naturalistic gestures, in 傾,比例完美,豐髮厚髻,腰腹飾華帶珠寶,衣裙宛
a style similar to that seen on the present figures; see, for
example, a related pair of bodhisattvas in the Jinan Cave at 然飄逸。本對像刻畫菩薩形像,雖然氣度莊嚴,風格
Longmen, illustrated in Zhongguo meishu quanji: Diaosu bian 卻親切近人。
/ Complete series on Chinese art: Sculpture section, vol. 11, 唐初,朝廷支持佛教,廣建佛寺,鼓勵僧侶西游
Shanghai, 1988, pls 173 and 174, or from the Leigutai Caves,
also known as Dawanwufo Caves, ibid., pl. 183. Compare also 取經。唐高宗(650至683 年)及武則天(684至704
two individual figures of bodhisattvas from the Longmen 年)在位期間,於京城修建多間寺廟及石窟,其中以
Caves, included in the exhibition Ancient Chinese Sculptural 河南洛陽城外的龍門石窟最為著名。龍門石窟由當時
Treasures: Carvings in Stone, Kaohsiung Museum of Fine 造詣最高之藝匠潛心雕造,主導後世中國造像藝術風
Arts, Kaohsiung, 1998, cat. nos 59 and 60. In the first years 格,亦對獨立造像及石碑的創作予以啓發。唐初之
of the 8th century, Empress Wu commissioned the addition
of Qibaotai, the Tower of Seven Jewels, to the temple 前,佛像多作抽象風格,力求彰顯佛像威嚴,令人敬
Guangzhaisi in Chang’an, the capital of the Tang. The temple 畏。唐初佛教造像則漸趨寫實自然,以佛相慈悲為
no longer exists, but some thirty stone stelae carved in high 主。自此,佛教造像日漸崇尚寫實之美,發展成熟,
relief are preserved from the interior of the Qibaotai, which 美學風格與人像相近,親近信衆,從而廣揚佛法。觀
are executed in a style related to the present sculptures. 音像過往並無明顯男女相之分,後來發展為女相,形
They are illustrated and discussed in Yan Juanying, Jinghua
shuiyue. Zhongguo gudai meishu kaogu yu fojiao yishu de 態容貌均顯慈祥善美。本對菩薩造像亦依隨此風格演
tantao / Visualizing the Miraculous World, Taipei, 2016, pp 變,身軀修長,面容豐滿,姿態優雅,展現八世紀寫
83-112 ; some are also included in Osvald Sirén, Chinese 實風格之美。
Sculpture from the Fifth to the Fourteenth Century, London,
1925 (reprint Bangkok, 1998), pls 391-397. The stelae are 比較龍門石窟菩薩像作例,造型優雅,菩薩站姿泰
partly now preserved in the Baoqing Temple in Xi’an, partly in 然,身軀微傾,風格與本品相近;一對龍門極南洞內
the Tokyo National Museum, and two are in the Freer Gallery 菩薩,圖載於《中國美術全集 · 雕塑編》,卷11,上
of Art, Washington, D.C. 海,1988年,圖版173及174,或擂鼓臺(又稱大萬伍
Unlike most of these stone stelae, the present pair were 佛洞)雕像,出處同上,圖版183。再比較龍門石窟
conceived and carved fully in the round and meant to be 兩尊菩薩像,曾展並錄於《歷代雕塑珍藏——石刻造
free-standing. Such sculptures are prone to breakage, with 像篇》,高雄市立美術館,高雄,1998年,編號59及
only a few preserved from this period, and it is extremely rare 60。八世紀初,武則天於唐都長安修建光宅寺,增建
to find a pair. Compare a similarly unusual pair of limestone
figures of bodhisattvas from the early Tang dynasty, also 七寶臺。寺院現已不復存在,唯七寶臺內保存三十多
depicting Mahasthamaprapta and Avalokiteshvara, formerly 尊浮雕石佛龕傳世,風格與本品相近,圖片及相關
in the collections of Grenville L. Winthrop and James W. and 討論可參考顏娟瑛,《鏡花水月 : 中國古代美術考古
Marilynn Alsdorf, illustrated in Sirén, op.cit., pl. 372, sold at 與佛教藝術的探討》,台北,2016年,頁83至112;
Christie’s New York, 13th-14th September 2018, lots 1123 and 當中數例,又收錄於喜龍仁,《Chinese Sculpture from
1124.
the Fifth to the Fourteenth Century》,倫敦,1925年(
Buddhism flourished during the Tang dynasty. The years of 再版,曼谷,1998年),圖版391至397。此組像現今
cultural and political division that accompanied dynastic
changes from the fall of the Han (206 BC-AD 220) 部分保存在西安寶慶寺,也有入藏東京國立博物館之
through the establishment of the Sui (581-618) and Tang 例,另有兩尊,現藏華盛頓弗利爾美術館。
dynasties, gradually led to the rise of Pure Land Buddhism. 與大多石窟造像不同,本對觀音像雕刻全面立體。此
Centered around the devotion of the Buddha Amitabha, or
a bodhisattva, this doctrine allowed devotees to be reborn 類獨立造像保存不易,故此時期之作例傳世甚少,成
in Sukhavati, the Western Paradise. Consequently, images 對之例更極為罕見。比較一對珍罕作例,唐代早期石
of Amitabha and of bodhisattvas proliferated in this period. 灰岩雕大勢至菩薩及觀世音菩薩像,曾先後所屬溫
The present two sculptures represent two of the eight great 索浦 、詹姆斯及玛丽莲•阿尔斯多夫伉儷收藏,載
bodhisattvas of Mahayana Buddhism: Avalokiteshvara, the 於喜龍仁,出處同上,圖版372,後售於紐約佳士得
Bodhisattva of Compassion, known as Guanshiyin in Chinese,
and Mahasthamaprapta, the bodhisattva of Wisdom, known 2018年9月13至14日,編號1123及1124。
as Dashizhi. In the imagery of Pure Land Buddhism, which 唐代佛教鼎盛。自漢代分崩衰亡至隋唐再次一統,期
thrived in China in the 8th century, these two bodhisattvas 間朝代更迭,多年文化及政治分裂,促成了佛教淨土
are often presented as a pair and shown standing on either
side of Amitabha, the Buddha of Infinite Light, as his divine 宗之興起。淨土宗信奉阿彌陀佛或菩薩,信徒可望於
attendants. Forming a triad known as the ‘Three Sages of the 西方極樂世界重生。因此,阿彌陀佛及菩薩的形像常
West’, they are the deities in charge of Sukhavati and together 見於此時期。大乘佛教有八大菩薩,本對觀音菩薩像
they oversee the Western Paradise. 刻畫觀世音菩薩及大勢至菩薩。淨土宗盛行於中國八
世紀,當時信衆常以觀世音菩薩及大勢至菩薩成對造
像,侍於無量壽佛(即阿彌陀佛)兩側,合稱「西方
三聖」,掌管西方極樂世界。
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