Lot 51. A rare inscribed 'Huanghuashi' limestone Buddhist stele, Northern Zhou dynasty, dated Jiande 2nd year, corresponding to 573. Height 5¾ in., 14.8 cm. Lot sold: 17,640 USD (Estimate: 40,000 - 60,000 USD). © Sothebys.

Literature: Rose Kerr et al., Chinese Antiquities from the Wou Kiuan Collection. Wou Lien-Pai Museum, Hong Kong, 2011, pl. 174.

Note: Northern Zhou stone carved figures are distinguished by stocky, strong features, and square faces. Compare a four-sided huanghuashi stele attributed to the Northern Zhou illustrated in Saburo Matsubara, Chinese Buddhist Sculpture: A study based on bronze and stone statues other than works from cave temples. Tokyo, 1966, pls 185 a, b; as well a larger stele, dated by inscription to the fifth year of the Baoding reign, corresponding to 564, illustrated in ibid. pl. 187a. A larger four-sided stone stele dated by inscription to 571 is illustrated in Chinese Sculpture. Osaka City Museum of Fine Arts. Yamaguchi Collection, Osaka, 2013, pl. 050.

See also a Northern Zhou huanghuashi triad stele, also dated by inscription to the Jiande year in the Eisei-Bunko Museum, illustrating Arts Treasured by the Hosokawa Clan Selections from the Eisei-Bunko Museum Collection, Miho Museum, Tokyo, 2002, cat. no. 13; and a huanghuashi pedestal dated by inscription to 573, formerly in the collection of Bunkio Matsuki (1867-1940), now preserved in the Freer Sackler Galleries, Washington D.C. (accession no. F1909.94). 

Pedestal with lotus petals, lions, and donor, originally supporting a Shijia Buddha (Shakyamuni) figure, Northern Zhou dynasty, Period of Division, dated 573 CE. Stone, H x W x D: 21.8 × 24.8 × 24.8 cm (8 9/16 × 9 3/4 × 9 3/4 in), Freer Gallery of Art, Gift of Charles Lang Freer, F1909.94. © 2022 Smithsonian Institution.

In the 3rd year of Jiande (corresponding to 574), Buddhism was prohibited in China and the destruction of Buddhist images was strictly enforced. The present lot is therefore an important example of the late Northern Zhou style of Buddhist imagery created before this period of destruction.

Sotheby's. A Journey Through China's History. The Dr Wou Kiuan Collection Part 1, New York, 22 March 2022