Page 60 - Bonhams Fine Chinese Art London Nov. 2019

38
A RARE CARVED LIMESTONE FIGURE OF A BODHISATTVA
Northern Qi Dynasty
Crisply carved with a serene face, the eyes half open in contemplation,
a scalloped hairline topped by a beaded headdress and secured by a
band with a ring to either side, clad in a high dhoti knotted at the front
and with bows at the shoulders, adorned with elaborate jewellery, stand.
71cm (28in) high. (2).

£40,000 - 80,000
CNY350,000 - 710,000

北齊 石雕菩薩立像

Provenance: Jonathan Tucker Antonia Tozer Asian Art, London,
15 February 2003.
John J. Studzinski CBE, London

來源：英國倫敦古董商，Jonathan Tucker Antonia Tozer Asian
Art，2003年2月15日
大英帝國司令勳章受勳者John J. Studzinski珍藏

The present remarkable figure displays several stylistic features typical as the present example; see I.Y.Klein-Bednay, Schmuck und Gewand
of the Northern Chinese sculptural tradition dating to the second half Des Bodhisattva In Der Fruhchinesischen Plastik, Bonn, 1984, fig.97,
of the sixth century, where emphasis was placed towards the volume p.93. The elaborate strings of jewels depicted on the chest, consisting
of the body, evident here in the stocky upper body and the convexity of lengths of pearls separated by coral twigs, however, can be traced
of the stomach, and the folds of the robe, gently cascading towards to the Central Asian and Indian ornaments worn by Indian noblemen
the bottom of the body. and can be found on Gandharan sculptures. See K.Isao, The World of
the Buddha. Ghandara Art, Tokyo, 1990, vol.2, p.177, fig.13.
The Northern Qi dynasty (550-577) was one of the most vibrant
periods in the history of Chinese art, especially in the context of A very similar torso of a bodhisattva, mid to late 6th century, in the
Buddhist art, which experienced a glorious moment following the Metropolitan Museum of Art, is illustrated by D.P.Leidy and D.Strahan,
contamination of foreign ideas and styles. Wisdom Embodied, Chinese Buddhist and Daoist Sculpture in the
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 2010, p.172, fig. A13. Another
The two hems depicted above the ankles suggest that the figure similar stone figure of a bodhisattva, Northern Qi, in the Museum of
is wearing a double garment. This feature does not appear to have Fine Arts, Boston, is illustrated by D.P.Leidy, ‘Avalokiteshvara in Sixth-
a counterpart in India or Central Asia and was probably a Chinese century China’, in J.Baker ed., The Flowering of a Foreign Faith: New
innovation. See, a stone figure of a bodhisattva, Sui dynasty, in cave Studies in Chinese Buddhist Art, Mumbai, 1998, figs.8 and 8a.
no.427 at Dunhuang, which displays a similar treatment of the hems

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