Notes: Due to the prohibition of Buddhism during the Northern Zhou period, which included the confiscation of property and bronze statues, Buddhist figures from this period are extremely rare. In style the present figure is related to Buddha figures known from the cave temples at Xumishan, located northwest of Guyuan county in present Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region in China. These are distinguished by their solemnity and characteristics that include stocky and masculine features, square faces, large noses and thick lips. The overall impression is that of a sombre yet contemplative and calm nature.

Examples of gilt-bronze Buddhist figures from this period include triad stele, from the collection of the Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music (Tokyo Geijutsu Daigaku), illustrated in Rokuchō no bijutsu, Tokyo, 1976, pl. 255, together with a seated Buddha figure of the same period, from the collection of Kyoto University, pl. 256. The crown and necklace with large central pendant are similar to that of a standing figure of Guanyin, attributed to the Northern Qi (550-577) or Sui (589-618) period, in the Avery Brundage collection, published in René-Yvon Lefebvre d’Argencé, Chinese, Korean and Japanese Sculpture, San Francisco, 1974, pl. 67. Compare also a related gilt-bronze figure of a seated Maitreya attributed to the Northern Zhou period in the Brooklyn Museum, accession number 88.93.

For Buddhist stone carvings attributed to this period, see four stelae included in Matsubara Saburō, Chūgoku bukkyō chōkoku shi kenkyū/Chinese Buddhist Sculpture, Tokyo, 1966, pls 191-192; a standing bodhisattva included in the exhibition Buddhist Stone Carvings in the Northern Dynasties, National Museum of History, Taipei, 1997, cat. no. 51, together with a seated bodhisattva, cat. no. 52; a standing Buddha figure dated in accordance with AD 580, in the Shanghai Museum, illustrated in Ann Paludan in Chinese Sculpture. A Great Tradition, Chicago, 2006, fig. 138; and a triad stele, from the collection of Sakamoto Gorō, sold in our Hong Kong rooms, 8th October 2013, lot 127.

Sotheby's. Important Chinese Art, New York, 13 sept. 2016, 10:30 AM