A LIMESTONE FRAGMENTARY RELIEF HEAD OF A LUOHAN SUI / EARLY TANG DYNASTY |

expressively carved, the grimacing face with furrowed brows and heavily lidded eyes framed by thick eyebrows curling upwards above the straight nose and full lips, all flanked by pendulous ear lobes below a shaven pate

Nagatani, Inc., Chicago, 20th December 1952. 
Collection of Stephen Junkunc, III (d. 1978). 

There are restored breaks to a section at the crown of the head, and another running from the back of the head through each earlobe then diagonally up the cheeks and meeting at the forehead, with the affected areas re-stuck. There is an arch-shaped crack at the chin with associated losses at the proper left cheek (as illustrated); losses to the proper right temple of the head (as illustrated); losses to the ears; and scattered shallow losses to the surface. The back of the head is drilled with an iron screw. The stone is slightly warmer in tone than the illustration in the catalogue.
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.

The particularly expressive treatment of the stone is consistent with Buddhist stone sculptures produced during the Sui and early Tang periods. Compare an earlier fragmentary relief head of a seated monk, believed to have come from the Northern Xiangtangshan Caves, formerly in the Yamaguchi Collection, now in the Osaka Municipal Museum of Art, included in the exhibition Chinese Buddhist Stone Sculpture. Veneration of the Sublime, Osaka Municipal Museum of Art, Osaka, 1995, cat. no. 44.  A related Tang dynasty head of a monk, in the National Museum, Stockholm, is illustrated in Osvald Sirén, Kinesiska och Japanska Skulpturer och Malningar, Nationalmuseum, [Chinese and Japanese Paintings in the National Museum of Stockholm], Malmo, 1931, pl. 26.