Page 74 - 2021 March 15th Fine Chinese Paintings and Works of Art, Bonhams NYC New York

PROPERTY FROM THE COLLECTION
OF JAMES AND MARILYNN ALSDORF
78
A GREY LIMESTONE HEAD OF A BODHISATTVA The figure of Amitabha seated at the front of the crown usually
Possibly Late Northern Wei Dynasty, 6th Century identifies the image as the bodhisattva Guanyin. However, see the grey
The fragment wearing a faceted crown fronted with an image of a stone head dated to the Northern Wei dynasty, identified as from the
seated Amitabha and stylized leaf sprays at the corners, his striated Longmen caves and possibly a figure of Maitreya, sold in Christie’s,
hair parted at the center and framing the rectangular face with incised New York, Fine Chinese Art from the Arthur M. Sackler Collection,
urna on the forehead above arching brows, deep-set eyes and a cleft 17 March 2009, lot 348. Of similar size (9 5/8in. [24.5cm high]) to the
chin below the full lips. Alsdorf head, the crown on its head also displays simplified leaf sprays
9 1/4in (23.5cm) high of fleur-de-lys form that separate the seated Buddha at the front from
the rosette preserved on the side. The Sackler head also displays more
$60,000 - 80,000 delicate features, flat ears and smoothly parted hair in contrast to the
articulated ears and striated hair visible on the Alsdorf head.
北魏晚期或更晚 六世紀 石灰岩菩薩頭像 See also a the rare limestone ‘Longmen’ relief fragmentary head of

Provenance Guanyin, dated to the Northern Wei dynasty, sold at Sotheby’s, Hong
Kong, Chinese Art through the Eye of Sakamoto Goro, 8 October
Parke-Bernet Galleries, Inc., New York sale, 22 October 1971
Property of the Estate of Cornelius Vanderstarr, New York 2013, lot 111. Although of much smaller size (4 3/8in. [11.3cm. high],
the crown on the head displays the simplified leaf sprays of fleur-de-lys
form seen on the Sackler head.
Exhibited and Published
New York, C. T. Loo & Co., An Exhibition of Stone Sculpture, 1940, pl. See also the head of larger size (18 3/4in. [47.6cm] high) in the
VIII, no. 15
collection of the Freer Gallery of Art (F1913.71, Gift of Charles Lang
來源 Freer: https://asia.si.edu/object/F1913.71/. Identified as Guanyin, from
the Longmen Grottoes, and dated 493-534, its towering crown also
Parke-Bernet Galleries, Inc., 紐約, 1971年10月22日
Cornelius Vanderstarr舊藏, 紐約 displays a seated Amitabha between elaborate leaf scrolls that recall
the Alsdorf head. Also like the Alsdorf head, the ears on the Freer

展覽及出版 figure appear to be articulated; but its slender face and features, as
well as the smoothly finished hair more strongly resemble the Sackler
C. T. Loo & Co., An Exhibition of Stone Sculpture, 紐約，1940年, Collection head sold by Christies.
圖版VIII, 編號15

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