AN EXCEPTIONAL AND RARE LIMESTONE RELIEF CARVING OF AN APSARA NORTHERN WEI DYNASTY |

of vertical rectangular form with a slight crescent curvature at the sides, the gray stone carved in multiple levels of relief with a kneeling apsara shown in three-quarter view and attired in flowing robes, draped in loose overlapping sashes and adorned with a wide, cusped pectoral, the spirit's proper right knee bent to the ground with the thigh resting upon the calf, the left knee raised in a lunge, the torso turned frontally with the arms brought forward and palms pressed in prayer before the chest, the subtly bowed head with a beatific smile playing across the lips, the slender almond-shaped eyes beneath an evenly arched brow and framed by pendulous earlobes, below an elaborate high chignon secured behind a trilobed diadem, all framed by a petal-shaped double-mandorla emanating above the shoulders, budding lotus stems issuing alongside the mandorla, the lower edge and sides carved with a raised border, fitted stand (2)

Collection of Tai Jun Tse (J.T. Tai, 1910-1992).
Sotheby’s Hong Kong, 29th April 1997, lot 713.

Fo diao zhi mei. Bei chao fojiao shidiao yishu/The Splendour of Buddhist Statuaries. Buddhist Stone Carvings in the Northern Dynasties, National Museum of History, Taipei, 1997, cat. no. 005.
Qian gu fo yan. Chuantong diaoke tezhan / Ancient Chinese Sculpture II [Thousand ancient Buddhist countenances. Special exhibition of classical sculpture], Kaohsiung Museum of Fine Arts, Kaohsiung, 2000, cat. no. 13. 

Bore baoxiang Jingyatang cang Zhongguo foxiang yishu/The Treasures of Chinese Buddhist Sculptures, Taipei, 2016, pp. 36-39, cat. no. 5.

As consistent with relief carvings of this period and as visible in the catalogue image, the elegant relief carving reconstructed from several pieces, with small areas of consolidation and infill, such as to the neck and the upper left edge of the carving, visible. A few small losses throughout, most visibly to the lower left lotus blossom, and to the lower portion of the figure's proper right forearm, with small chips and losses. The uppermost surface unevenly cut. The stone fixed to its stand, secured by a metal pinned support running up approximately four fifths of the uneven reverse surface.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

Dignity and Grace: A Rare Northern Wei Apsara Relief
Regina Krahl  This dignified image of a kneeling celestial being from the Jingyatang collection is moving in its serene expression and unconventional in its iconography. Its three-quarter profile rendering is characteristic of the stylistic language of Northern Wei (386-534) stone carvers, but it is difficult to find a comparable image of such sculptural quality, or any relief of this period that so successfully indicates three-dimensionality. In spite of close stylistic similarities with rock reliefs from China’s main cave temples, particularly those at Longmen and Gongxian, both in Henan province and both commissioned by the Northern Wei imperial family, it cannot be directly attributed to either of those caves. Both these gigantic imperial sculpture projects of course were determinant for the development of Buddhist sculpture and influenced rock carvings as well as free-standing steles of the period, and the present figure clearly stands in this tradition. 

Although the headdress and pose of the current figure suggest an apsara, its overall rendering deviates from the common depiction of apsaras known from this period. Apsaras (Chinese feitian, ‘flying in heaven’) tend to be angel-like female figures hovering in mid-air around the Buddha or Bodhisattvas. While they do not have a strong liturgical function in Buddhism, they play an important part in Buddhist imagery, where – depicted as graceful, enchanting ladies playing musical instruments or performing dancing motions – they generally serve as enhancement of the heavenly realm. Indian prototypes clearly served as models, such as the famous early depictions of apsaras from the wall paintings of the Ajanta caves in Aurangabad district, Maharashtra state, created in the 5th/6th centuries and earlier, whose celestial singers and dancers evoke sensual pleasures for divine beings.

Chinese representations generally conform to this image of apsaras as alluring, angelic creatures. The present stone carving, however, represents a gracious and divine, gender-neutral Buddhist image and thus offers a completely different facet of an apsara: its demure pose and pious gesture depict a serious, devout stance that is unusual in this context and may represent a more Sinicized version of these celestial beings. The composed, chaste manner in which this apsara is depicted reminds us of the humble donor figures often shown kneeling, in adoration of the Buddha, rather than the radiant celestial nymphs floating in mid-air. This rendering is further emphasized by the distinct double halo behind the head, which underlines the significance of the spiritual message. 

This rendering appears to be extremely rare and no closely related carving appears to be recorded. One similar figure can, however, be seen on the rear wall of the Central Binyang cave, one of the main caves at Longmen near Luoyang, Henan province, which was carved to the order of the Northern Wei Emperor Xuanwu (r. 500-515) and completed in 523. On the aureole surrounding the main Buddha, next to the figure of Ananda, we see an apsara, very similary attired and depicted in the same pose, but carved in a very different style, in more shallow relief; see Zhongguo meishu quanji: Diaosu bian [Complete series on Chinese art: Sculpture section], 11: Longmen shiku diaoke [Sculptures of the Longmen caves], Shanghai, 1988, pl. 40 (fig. 1).

The sensitive, softly rounded carving style, the three-quarter profile rendering and the subliminal smile of the elongated face, created by a deeply carved groove around the mouth, are much closer to the stone reliefs of the Gongxian caves, also in Henan province and equally commissioned by the Northern Wei imperial family, under Emperor Xiaoming (r. 516-528). Although no closely related image is known from Gongxian either, and the workmanship of the present image is more elaborate and detailed than that of related figures at Gongxian, with its scarves draped in two loops it is nevertheless reminiscent of some of the musicians depicted there; see, for example, Zhongguo meishu quanji: Diaosu bian [Complete series on Chinese art: Sculpture section], 13: Gongxian Tianlongshan Xiangtangshan Anyang shiku diaoke [Sculptures of the Gongxian, Tianlongshan, Xiangtangshan and Anyang caves], Beijing, 1989, pl. 23; or Gongxian shiku si [Gongxian cave temples], Beijing, 1963, pls 61-63. Apsaras are, however, rather differently depicted at Gongxian, floating in mid-air; see ibid., pl. 345; Zhongguo shiku: Gongxian shiku si [Chinese cave temples. The cave temples of Gongxian], Beijing, 1989, pls 206-207; and Zhongguo meishu quanji, op.cit., vol. 13, pl. 74.

Compare also a similar head, published in An Exhibition of Chinese Stone Sculptures, C.T. Loo & Co., New York, 1940, cat. no. 15, subsequently sold in these rooms, 17th September 2003, lot 16, and attributed to Gongxian, illustrated in Gongxian shiku [Cave temples of Gongxian], Beijing, 2005, p. 193, fig. 13; and another Northern Wei head fragment, attributed to the Binyang cave at Longmen, published in Yamaguchi korekushion Chūgoku sekibutsu ten [Exhibition of Chinese stone Buddhas from the Yamaguchi collection], Osaka City Museum of Fine Arts, Osaka, 1979, cat. no. 71.

Gongxian figures also show similar curls on either side of the shoulders, but generally only two on each side, see Gongxian shiku, op.cit., pp. 194-7, figs 14, 17-22 and passim. The plump lotus buds, symbols of purity in Buddhism, which adorn the image, filling empty space around the halo, are unusual to find in this context. Lotus flowers are sometimes held by Bodhisattvas and can be seen, for example, in the Binglingsi caves in Yongjing county, Gansu province, but are untypical of Longmen or Gongxian; see Zhongguo Shiku. Yongjing Bingling si [Chinese cave temples. The cave temples of Bingling in Yongjing], Beijing, 1989, passim.

J.T. Tai (1910-1992) was one of the major Chinese art dealers of the 20th century, who started working at his uncle’s antiques shop in Wuxi, Jiangsu province, from around the late 1920s, opened his own shop in Shanghai in the 1930s and moved to New York in 1950 to open a gallery there. For decades he remained one of the major suppliers of Americas great collectors, among them Avery Brundage and Arthur M. Sackler.