A 'HUANGHUASHI' LIMESTONE CARVING OF A SEATED BUDDHA SUI - TANG DYNASTY |

positioned in dhyanasana on a lotus blossom supported by a stepped circular base, dressed in a thin robe clinging to the body and laying in even folds over the chest, arms, and legs, the hem draping over the edge of the pedestal, the left hand resting on the knee with the palm turned upward, the forefinger extended and the other fingers curled inward holding a round jewel, the right hand raised by the shoulder holding lotus bud, the oval face slightly bowed and framed by pendulous ears, a domed ushnisha, and a round mandorla rising from the shoulder blades, the stone a pale matte beige with flecks of lustrous yellow and brown inclusions, stand (2)

Alice Boney, New York, 9th November 1982.
Collection of Florence (1920-2018) and Herbert (1917-2016) Irving, no. 829.

The upper section of the mandorla is missing (as illustrated), there are scattered smaller losses throughout, and a long arched hairline crack running from the base to the proper left knee and down the reverse. The surface of the stone is dry.
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The present statue of Buddha bears a strong resemblance to one which is dated to the fifteenth year of the Kaihuang period of Sui Wendi's reign, corresponding to 596, and published in Saburo Matsubara, Chinese Buddhist Sculpture: A study based on bronze and stone statues other than works from cave temples, Tokyo, 1966, pl. 214. In both carvings, the Buddha sits on a rounded waisted pedestal, wears robes that fall in thick stylized folds, and has a similar facial expression. Carved stone images of the Buddha that bear this style of drapery and are set over a waisted pedestal, include a Tang dynasty votive dated to 657, and published in Osvald Sirén, Chinese Sculpture from the Fifth to the Fourteenth Century: over 900 specimens in stone, bronze, lacquer and wood, principally from Northern China, vol. II, Thailand, 1998, pl. 368; and a marble seated figure of a Buddha attributed to the 6th century sold at Christie's New York, 29th March 2006, lot 342.