Important Chinese Art
Important Chinese Art
Property from the MQ Collection
An extremely rare gilt-bronze Amitabha triad altarpiece, Tang dynasty, dated Zongzhang 2nd year, corresponding to 669 |
Auction Closed
March 22, 08:01 PM GMT
Estimate
30,000 - 50,000 USD
Lot Details
Description
Property from the MQ Collection
An extremely rare gilt-bronze Amitabha triad altarpiece
Tang dynasty, dated Zongzhang 2nd year, corresponding to 669
唐總章二年 (669年) 銅鎏金阿彌陀佛三尊像
inscription on the reverse of the altarpiece can be translated as:
'On the eighth day of the fourth month in the second year of the Zongzhang period, Tang dynasty [in accordance with AD 669], Chen Shimei in Zhengliu respectfully donated a set of Buddhist figures of Amitabha Buddha for the family due to heavy illness or adversity'
銘文：
總章二年四月八日 鄭留□ 陳氏妹為遭重患 願造阿彌陀像一鋪 合家供養
(7)
Height 6½ in., 16.5 cm
Hong Kong Private Collection, acquired in the 1980s.
香港私人收藏，得於1980年代
As I Have Seen: Chinese Ancient Sculpture, MQ Collection, Taipei, 2015, cat. no. 12.
《如是我見》，台北，2015年，編號12
Tang-dated gilt-bronze figures are not uncommon, but it is extremely rare to find a complete set of figures on an altar table. Amitabha is flanked by two bodhisattvas and two disciples, with an indistinct figure at the front bearing a jewel.
A larger bronze Amitabha Buddha group set on an altar is in the collection of the Shanghai Museum, Shanghai, attributed to the Sui dynasty, illustrated on the Museum's website. The altar table shares the same sharp teethlike elements on the underside and similarly slightly curved feet, but the figures are less sinuous and naturalistically conveyed as on the current group. The slender body exemplifies the essence of Sui sculptural style, and bears only the slightest hint of the more sensuous forms to follow in the Tang dynasty.
The articulation of the figures on the current example closely relates to another rare Tang altarpiece from the Nitta Collection, depicting Avalokiteshvara with attendants, included in the exhibition Jintong fo zaoxiang tezhan tulu / The Crucible of Compassion and Wisdom: Special Exhibition Catalogue of the Buddhist Bronzes from the Nitta Group Collection at the National Palace Museum, Taipei, 1987, cat. no. 85. See also the Northern Wei gilt-bronze Maitreya Buddha altarpiece in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (accession no. 38.158.1a-n), included in the exhibition China: Dawn of a Golden Age, 200–750 AD., Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 2004, cat. no. 167.