Buddhist Sculpture sold at Christie's New York, 23 March - 24 March 2023

21 mai 2023

Buddhist Sculpture sold at Christie's New York, 23 March - 24 March 2023

Lot 1122. A sandstone figure of a bodhisattva, Northern Wei Dynasty (386-535); 77.5 cm high. Price realised USD 529,200 (Estimate USD 200,000 – USD 300,000). © Christie's Images Ltd 2023

Provenance: C. T. Loo & Co., Paris, c. 1928.
J. T. Tai & Co., Inc., New York, 30 April 1965.
Arthur M. Sackler (1913-1987) Collections.
Else Sackler (1913-2000).
Arthur M. Sackler Foundation, 1997.

Literature: Daisy Yiyou Wang, "C.T. Loo and the Chinese Art Collection at the Freer, 1915-1951," Arts of Asia, 41/5, September-October 2011, fig. 12.

Exhibited: Champaign, Illinois, Chinese Galleries, Krannert Art Museum, 18 October 1999-June 2009.
Québec, Canada, Asian Galleries, Museé des beaux-arts de Montréal, 2011-2016.

Note: This finely carved figure of a bodhisattva is most unusual in the depiction of the ribbons that flutter back onto the mandorla. They are partially undercut so that a portion of the ribbons is freestanding. Fluttering, free-standing ribbons can also be seen on the bust of a bodhisattva in the collection of E. Schlieper, Berlin, included in the Exhibition of Chinese Art, Berlin, 1929, no. 112. This fragment of a figure from Gongxian which measures 52cm. is dated Northern Wei, 6th century, and the carving of the face, the hair and the crown are very similar to that of the present figure. Another smaller figure of a bodhisattva with scarves looped through a disc and wearing a crown with ribbons rippling back onto a mandorla, in the Imperial Academy of Art, Tokyo, is illustrated by O. Sirén, Chinese Sculpture, vol. I, 1998 ed., vol. I, pl. 131A. It is dated Northern Wei and identified as being from Shaanxi province. Also, illustrated ibid., pl. 135, is a seated figure (65 cm.) with a very similar face and long rippling ribbons which trail onto the mandorla, in the Hayasaki Collection, Tokyo.

With its narrow head, sloping eyes, and folded robes, the figure also bears stylistic similarities with figures of Buddha found at the Yungang Buddhist grottos, which date to the 5th century. Compare the figure of seated Buddha from Yungang in the collection of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, illustrated by D. Leidy and D. Strahan, Wisdom Embodied: Chinese Buddhist and Daoist Sculpture in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 2010, pp. 53-54, no. 3b. The Metropolitan Museum of Art figure is shown wearing a similar garment comprising a long thin shawl that crosses at the waist with undergarments beneath it. A Northern Wei granite head of a bodhisattva, in the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, shown wearing an elaborate lotus crown similar to that of the present figure, is illustrated by d'Argence, Chinese, Korean and Japanese Sculpture in the Avery Brundage Collection, Tokyo, 1974, pp. 76-77, no. 24.

Lot 1118. A very rare sandstone stele of a bodhisattva, Northern Qi-Zhou Dynasty (550-581); 39 cm high, softwood stand. Price realised USD 94,500 (Estimate USD 80,000 – USD 120,000). © Christie's Images Ltd 2023

Provenance: Yamanaka & Co., Osaka, 1928.

Literature: Yamanaka, Shina koto kinseki tenkan (Exhibition of Chinese Classical Ceramics, Bronzes, and Stone Sculpture), Osaka, 1928, no. 231.
Yuzuru Yamanaka and Jin Liyan (eds.), Shanzhongshanghui Jingshou Zhongguoyunshupin Ziliao Huibian, vol.1 , Shanghai, 2020, p. 235.

Exhibited: Osaka, Osaka Art Club, Shina koto kinseki tenkan (Exhibition of Chinese Classical Ceramics, Bronzes, and Stone Sculptures), Yamanaka Shokai, 25-27 November 1928.
Tokyo, Sekai Isan Gallery, Silk Road Karukanaru tabi ten, Chugoku hen (A Long Journey on the Silk Road: China), 2005.

Note: This finely carved stele is representative of the outpour of high-quality Buddhist sculpture being made in China in the 5th century, during the Northern Qi and Northern Zhou dynasties which together spanned little more than a quarter of a century but saw great development in Buddhist art. Unlike the sculpture made in the preceding Northern Wei dynasty, Northern Qi and Northern Zhou sculpture saw a turn towards rounder, softer, and more naturalistic imagery.

After the downfall of the Wei Tartar dynasty and the victory of the Northern Qi and Northern Zhou rulers, there was a breakdown in communications within China, however the Emperor Wen Gong of the Northern Qi was a devoted Buddhist and thus succeeded in maintaining direct communications with India. Frequent pilgrimages were made, monks traveled across the Silk Route returning with scriptures and paintings, and hundreds of monasteries were founded across the area of Shandong, Hebei, Henan and eastern Shanxi.

This strong relationship between the Northern Qi Emperor and Gupta India had a strong stylistic influence on Buddhist sites and sculptures made during this time. The high-relief jewelry on the present figure, in particular, reflects the influence of Gupta style Indian sculptures. A Northern Qi sandstone figure of a standing bodhisattva from the Ching-ya T’ang Collection, illustrated in The Art of Contemplation-Religious Sculpture from Private Collections, The National Palace Museum, Taipei, 1997, pp. 126-27, no. 35, and on p. 252, has a similar necklace of three pronounced beads and a beaded and braided outer necklace. The author notes that these distinctive necklaces are often found on figures from Shanxi province. Compare, also, another figure of a standing bodhisattva with similar necklaces, in the Cincinnati Art Museum, illustrated in Hai-Wai Yi-Chen, Chinese Art in Overseas Collections: Buddhist Sculpture II, Taipei, 1990, p. 65, and another similar figure dated to the Northern Qi dynasty which was unearthed in Shanxi, illustrated in Faxiang zhuangyan: Shanxi fojiao zaoxiang yishu jingpin zhuan, Jiangxi Provincial Museum, Shanghai, 2011, p. 54.

The facial characteristics of the present figure, especially the slightly plump face, evenly parted hair, prominent rounded eyebrows, and distinctive finely delineated chin, as well as the figure’s rigid stance, are characteristic of Northern Qi bodhisattvas. A limestone head of a bodhisattva, also dating to the Northern Qi dynasty, with similarly modeled features sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, 29 October 2001, lot 504. A figure of a bodhisattva dated to the Northern Qi-Sui dynasty, 6th century, with similarly rigid frontal pose to the present figure, was sold at Christie’s New York, 22 March 2019, lot 1609. Compare, also, a massive head of a bodhisattva from the J. T. Tai collection dated to the second half of the 6th century, sold at Sotheby’s New York, 3 June 1985, lot 5, which is also carved in the round with similarly modeled facial features.

Lot 1118. A small stone head of Buddha, Tang Dynasty (550-581); 13.3 cm high, stone stand. Price realised USD 4,410 (Estimate USD 5,000 – USD 7,000). © Christie's Images Ltd 2023

Provenance: Vladimir Gregorievitch Simkhovitch (1874-1959) Collection, New York, before 1922.

Lot 1124. A rare painted wood figure of a standing bodhisattva, Jin dynasty (1115-1234); 106.7 cm high, softwood stand. Price realised USD 894,600 (Estimate USD 100,000 – USD 150,000). © Christie's Images Ltd 2023

Provenance: Jen Chai Art Gallery Inc. (J. T. Tai & Co.), New York, 24 March 1965.
Arthur M. Sackler (1913-1987) Collections.
Else Sackler (1913-2000).
Elizabeth A. Sackler.

Note: A similar polychrome wood standing figure of a bodhisattva of larger size (190.5 cm. high), dated to 1195 of the Jin dynasty, is in the collection of the Royal Ontario Museum, illustrated in in Hai-Wai Yi-Chen, Chinese Art in Overseas Collections: Buddhist Sculpture II, Taipei, 1990, p. 171, no. 161. The pose and the drapery of the two figures are extremely similar. A seated figure of a wood bodhisattva, also dated to the Jin dynasty, shown wearing similar necklaces, in the Liang-sheng T’ang Collection, is illustrated in The Art of Contemplation-Religious Sculpture from Private Collections, The National Palace Museum, Taipei, 1997, p. 208-09, no. 93 and p. 259.

Lot 1126. A stone had of a deity, Yuan dynasty (1279-1368); 26.5 cm high. Price realised USD 5,040 (Estimate USD 5,000 – USD 7,000). © Christie's Images Ltd 2023

Provenance: Vladimir Gregorievitch Simkhovitch (1874-1959) Collection, New York.

Lot 1129. A large parcel-gilt lacquered bronze figure of Buddha, Ming dynasty (1368-1644); 71.7 cm high including base, 41 kg including base. Price realised USD 189,000 (Estimate USD 120,000 – USD 180,000). © Christie's Images Ltd 2023

Provenance: Private collection, Southern California.
Bonhams San Francisco, 10 December 2012, lot 5056.

Note: The present figure is shown seated in dhyanasana with his hands held in bhumisparsha mudra - the earth touching gesture, which help to identify this large figure as Shakyamuni (the Historical Buddha). This mudra represents the moment of the Buddha's awakening as he claims the earth as the witness of his enlightenment. The small raised circular protuberance on the Buddha’s forehead represents the curl of white hair between the Buddha’s eyebrows from which issues a ray of light illuminating all worlds. The gilded surfaces on the Buddha’s body not only make the sculpture appropriate for representing a deity but also symbolize the light that, according to the sacred texts or sutra, radiates from his body.

This exceptional figure embodies the classical Chinese sculptural style as interpreted in the mid- to late Ming period in contrast to the Tibeto-Chinese style that was popular at the imperial court at the time. Its large size and fine casting suggest that it was made for a major temple, perhaps commissioned by an important patron as a devout gift. The present figure can be compared to a gilt-lacquered bronze figure of Buddha, and a gilt-lacquered bronze medicine Buddha, both of very similar size, sold at Christie’s New York, 23-24 September 2021, lot 776 and 777. See, also, the parcel-gilt bronze figure of Buddha of smaller size, sold at Sotheby’s New York, 7 April 1988, lot 303, and again at Christie’s New York, 22-23 September 2022, lot 841.

Christie's. Important Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, New York, 23 March - 24 March 2023

Posté par Alain Truong à 21:32 - Commentaires […] - Permalien [#]

Tags: Bodhisattva, Buddha, sandstone, stele, Jin dynasty (1115-1234), Northern Wei dynasty (386-535), Northern Qi-Zhou Dynasty (550-581)