Impressive Limestone Head of Lokapala, China, Tang dynasty (618-907). Estimate 20 000 € / 26 000 €. Photo Auctionata AG

Depiction of a Lokapala guardian figure - Expressive countenance with bulging eyes, arched eyebrows, a wide nose and a big, open mouth - The fine hair tied into a high topknot - The muscular neck of the Guardian carved in a very naturalistic manner - Mounted on a metal base (later) -Height: c. 56 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). 

Notes: With his muscular, naked body the Lokapala is reminiscent of a Vajrapani, usually accompanies Shakyamuni Buddha and presents the power of the Dharma. This head is an example of the detailed craftsmanship of Tang period sculptures and one of the rare finds, which, among others, are held in the Osaka Municipal Museum of Art and in the Shanghai Museum. 

Comparable works are illustrated in the Complete Works of Statues in Longmen Grottoes, Binyang Cave, Beijing 2002, fig. 28 to 30, in Ancient Chinese Buddhist Sculpture, The C. K. Chan Collection, Taipei 1989, cat. no. 9 as well as in Chinese Buddhist Stone Sculpture, Veneration of the Sublime, Osaka 1995, no. 59. See another stone head with very similar expression, formerly in the Huoshao Cave, cf. Alphen/Bisscop, The Buddha in the Dragon Gate. Buddhist sculpture of the 5th-9th centuries from Longmen, China. Antwerp 2001, p. 128, no. 26. 

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