A LIMESTONE STELE OF A BUDDHIST TRIAD, NORTHERN ZHOU DYNASTY, DATED JIANDE 2ND YEAR, CORRESPONDING TO 573

Auction Closed

September 23, 08:35 PM GMT

Estimate

40,000 - 60,000 USD

Lot Details

Description

A LIMESTONE STELE OF A BUDDHIST TRIAD

NORTHERN ZHOU DYNASTY, DATED JIANDE 2ND YEAR, CORRESPONDING TO 573

北周建德二年（573年）石灰石雕菩薩三尊像

well carved with a seated Bodhisattva in the center, depicted with a downcast gaze directed at the hands resting upon the knees, draped in loose overflowing robes tied at the waist and cascading down the legs, the exposed chest bejeweled with an ornamental collar, wearing a flat crown with a band of circular adornments attached to ribbons falling beyond the shoulders, flanked by two acolytes with their hands at the chests, all framed with a curved mandorla, above a rectangular block carved with an inscription, wood stand (2)

銘文：

大周建德二年癸巳朔二月丁酉佛弟子劉開乾作為亡父造石像一區息廣宋姊高妃父□州□城郡之劉文勝母郭和嫗

Height 13 in., 33 cm

Collection of Walter Beck (1864-1954).

Collection of Dr. Edwin E. Gordon (1927-2015).

Sotheby's New York, 18th March 2008, lot 239.

來源

Walter Beck (1864-1954) 收藏

Edwin E. Gordon 博士 (1927-2015) 收藏

紐約蘇富比2008年3月18日，編號239

The inscription can be translated as: 'On the dingyou day of the second month of the guise year, the second year of the Jiande reign of the Great Zhou, Buddhist disciple Liu Kaiqian respectfully built a stone statue for the deceased father. [Established by] son Guangsong and sister Gaofei.'

Dated Buddhist steles from this reign are rare. See a related stele of a slightly larger size, carved from a huanghuashi with a central seated Buddha accompanied by two bodhisattvas, dated Jiande 1st year, corresponding to 572, illustrated in Saburo Matsubara, Chinese Buddhist Sculpture. A study based on bronze and stone statues other than works from cave temples, Tokyo, 1966, pl. 190-c, together with another stele, dated Jiande 3rd year (574), now in the Graduate School of Letters, Kyoto University, pl. 192-a; and a more elaborate stele of a larger size, also dated Jiande 3rd year, in the Shaanxi Museum, Xi'an, published in Shaanxisheng bowuguan cang shike xuanji [Selection of stone carvings from the Shaanxi Museum], Beijing, 1957, pl. 23.