A WHITE MARBLE FIGURE OF 'PENSIVE' MAITREYA NORTHERN QI DYNASTY |

sensitively carved in the round, the deity seated in meditation against a truncated tree, with the proper right leg pendent over the seat with the left leg crossed over the knee, the right hand resting on the left foot and the other raised towards the face, likely in a gesture of contemplation, the sublimely peaceful face crowned with a rounded diadem, a large, bowed torque adorning the chest, wearing characteristically styled garments carved as if clinging to the skin, the gently draping sashes and linear cascading folds falling about the body, with a wood stand and Japanese box (4)

Collection of Sakamoto Gorō (1923-2016), acquired in the 1950s or 1960s.
Sotheby's Hong Kong, 8th October 2013, lot 114.

This is a fragment of a larger stele, in its expected truncated condition, as visible in the catalogue image. There are some surface patches of brown calcification to the rear of the figure. There is an approx. 1.2 cm scratch to the lower right of the chin of the figure. There is a red painted inventory reference number '22.79' on the base. Otherwise there does not seem to be any other recent damage or restoration. The stone has a pale ivory-yellow tinge.
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 present figure, posed with one leg pendent and the other crossed with the foot resting on the opposite knee, is seated in the ‘pensive pose’. Unless specifically named in inscriptions, the identity of figures seated in this particular position has been the subject of debate and has traditionally been recognized as either Prince Siddhartha or the bodhisattva Maitreya. A Northern Wei period carving of a princely figure seated in the ‘pensive’ pose was carved in Cave 6 at Yungang, illustrated in Mizuno Seiichi and Nagahiro Toshio, Yun-kang, Kyoto, 1951-56, vol. 3, pl. 5., and in Junghee Lee, ‘The Origins and Development of the Pensive Bodhisattva Images of Asia’, Artibus Asiae, vol. 53, no. 3/4, 1993, fig. 12. In this carved stone niche, the central figure is clearly identifiable as Siddartha by his trusted steed Kanthaka at his knee. While in the 4th and 5th centuries the pose was often used to represent Shakyamuni, Maitreya was depicted with crossed ankles. As Lee mentions, in the second quarter of the fifth century to the Sui dynasty, two ‘pensive’ pose figures were often used to balance a triad group, flanking a central cross-ankle figure. Beginning with the Northern Qi, the ‘pensive’ pose was increasingly used as the central figure, ibid., p. 340-1, and increasingly to represent Maitreya, thus the present figure most likely represents this deity. Often referred to as the Future Buddha, Maitreya is a bodhisattva in the ‘pensive’ pose; in this position he is contemplating his impending final reincarnation and future enlightenment. For further discussion, see the catalogue to the exhibition China: Dawn of a Golden Age, 200-750 AD, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 2004, p. 266. Compare a closely related marble figure of a 'pensive' Maitreya, dated in accordance with 570 from the collection of K. Takenouchi, Tokyo, illustrated in Osvald Sirén, Chinese Sculpture from the Fifth to the Fourteenth Century, London, 1925, pl. 244b, and included in the exhibition Ancient Chinese Sculpture, Eskenazi, London, 1978, cat. no. 12. Consider as well two closely related figures illustrated in Matsubara Saburō, Chinese Buddhist Sculpture: A study based on bronze and stone statues other than works from cave temples, Tokyo, 1966, pls 146a and 146b, the former bearing a dedicatory inscription with a date corresponding to 564 AD.