Tall Limestone Figure of Buddha Shakyamuni, Tang Dynasty (618-907). Estimate 50 000 € / 65 000 €. Photo Auctionata AG

Depiction of Buddha Shakyamuni, seated in sukhasana on a base - The left hand is relaxed placed on the knee - Numerous small curls cover Buddha’s head and form a dome-shaped ushnisha - The face has a serene expression with a well-proportioned countenance and a slight smile - Buddha is dressed in a richly pleated garment which also covers the base - On a black base (later) - Dimensions without base: c. 78 x 50 x 38 cm - Good condition consistent with age 

Provenance: Property of a French noble man, in the family collection since at least 1967. Listed in the collection inventory from 1967 (see scan in the photo gallery).

The spiritual facial expression and exquisitely and very naturalistically worked robe is a genuine characteristic of the fully developed Tang style. The sensual style of the folded cloth is clearly developed by Indian models and a specific Buddhist iconography. See a very prominent example, illustrated in Sirén, Chinese Sculpture: From the Fifth to the Fourteenth Century, vol. II, 1988 (1925), plate 365. A very closely related sculpture with richly pleated garment is in the collection of the Art Institute of Chicago (Lucy Maud Buckingham Collection, 1930.83). Another very fine example with strong relation to the present limestone figure is in the collection of the Museum für Asiatische Kunst der Staatlichen Museen zu Berlin (accession no. 1960-4). See also another limestone Buddha on lotus pedestal which was discovered in 1980 near the Jingshan Temple, Longmen (accession no. LM 029B), illustrated in Alphen/Bisscop, The Buddha in the Dragon Gate: Buddhist sculpture of the 5th-9th centuries from Longmen, China, Antwerp 2001, p. 120, no. 20.

Buddha Shakyamuni (Siddhartha Gautama) 

Siddhartha Gautama lived in Northern India circa 2,500 years ago. The epithet Shakyamuni refers to his princely origins and can be translated as ‘the wise man from the family of Shakya’. Born as a prince, Shakyamuni felt a deep compassion for the four sufferings of mankind (birth, aging, sickness and death) from an early age. Eventually he left his family to go on a spiritual journey. After a few years he attained enlightenment. As Buddha (‘the Awakened One’), Shakyamuni traveled all over India to share his wisdom with the people and promote peace. At the age of 80 Buddha Shakyamuni passed away and his teachings gave rise to the various schools of Buddhism.

AUCTIONATA AG, 10719 BERLIN. Sculptures et Bronze d'Asie provenant de la Collection D'une Noble Famille Europééenne, le 20 Juin 2015 à 18h00