Page 96 - Christies September 13 to 14th Fine Chinese Works of Art New York

PROPERTY FROM THE COLLECTION OF ARTHUR B. PARDEE, PHD.

1126
A DATED GREY STONE FIGURE OF MAITREYA PROVENANCE
Acquired in the United States before 1981.
NORTHERN ZHOU DYNASTY, DATED 1ST YEAR OF DADING,
CORRESPONDING TO AD 581 The inscription, dated to the cyclical renwu day, 1st month, 1st year of
Maitreya Buddha is shown seated on a cloth-draped stool of hourglass shape, Dading (AD 581), includes the names of those who commissioned the
with legs pendent and the feet resting on a lotus petal-carved base raised on a fgure in memory of their late father and also identifes the deity as
rectangular plinth carved around the sides with an inscription dated to the frst Maitreya.
year of Dading (AD 581). The fgure’s left hand resting on the left knee holds
part of the long scarf that is draped over the shoulders and across the dhoti. Compare the very similar Northern Zhou stone fgure of a seated
The fgure is further arrayed in a jeweled necklace and long beaded chains that bodhisattva dated to the 1st year of Jiande (AD 572), illustrated in Saburo
fall from the shoulders down the legs, and wears a ribbon-hung foliate crown Matsubara, Chinese Buddhist Sculpture, Tokyo, 1966, no. 128c, fg. 98. It
in front of the lotus petal-carved nimbus. The downcast face is carved with a is interesting to note that both the present fgure and the Jiande-dated
small mouth and elongated eyes set in a gentle expression. There are traces of bodhisattva are seated on drum-form stools covered with tasseled cloth,
white pigment. which is rare in the Six Dynasties sculptures. Compare, also, a Northern
12 in. (30.5 cm.) high Zhou stone fgure of a seated bodhisattva with similarly rendered face, in
the collection of Kyoto University, illustrated in ibid, no. 256.
$10,000-15,000
北周大定元年（公元581年） 石灰岩雕彌勒菩薩坐像

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