An important and very rare sandstone head of Buddha, Sui - Tang dynasty | 隋至唐 砂岩石雕佛首

Yamanaka Shokai Co. Ltd, prior to World War II, by repute.

An old Japanese family collection.

Sotheby's New York, 16th September 2008, lot 169.

傳山中商會，第二次世界大戰前購藏

日本家族舊藏

紐約蘇富比2008年9月16日，編號169

This monumental head of Buddha, superbly carved with features that harmonise the emergent trend toward naturalism with the inherited idealised forms, is a prime example of the transition of religious art representation from the Sui to the Tang dynasty. The plump face and elegantly curved eyes beneath sharply defined and arched brows are articulated with vivid realism. The gently upturned lips recessed into fleshy cheeks, together with the well-formed nose, are idealised to express the serenity and spirituality of the Buddha. The Sui dynasty’s brief unification of China produced a new sculptural synthesis, a majestic style of restrained elegance and controlled sensuality, which formed the basis of Tang dynasty Buddhist sculpture.

Comparable sandstone sculptures are hard to find, particularly of this size. This sublime and sensitively rendered sculpture can be placed in the context of other sculptures from the Tianlongshan Caves, Shanxi. It is closely related to two Buddha heads allegedly from Cave 8, but without the carved wavy details of the hair: one head of comparable size is in the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, included in the Tianlongshan Cave Project, no. NEL.F99.29; and another head of smaller size is in the Osaka City Museum of Fine Arts, ibid., no. OSA.2929. With an inscription dated to the 4th year of the Kaihuang period (584), Cave 8 is the only Tianlongshan grotto recorded to be constructed in the Sui dynasty. Compare also a smaller head of Buddha with a more elaborate hairstyle in the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, believed to be from Tianlongshan and attributed to the Tang dynasty, ibid., no. RMV.2334.2. For examples offered at auction, see one sold in our New York rooms, 3rd June 1985, lot 21; and another sold in these rooms, 29th April 1997, lot 715.

此佛首龐然偉巨，下啓造像之和諧自然之風，上承佛教之至純形制，為隋唐交際時宗教藝術表達之典範。佛首面頰豐潤，雙眸優雅，修眉如弓，雕刻逼真，栩栩如生。其雙唇微翹，勾勒豐滿雙頰，鼻梁挺秀，盡顯佛祖平和沉靜之性靈。隋時中國的短暫統一，創生出嶄新的造像風格，雄偉壯麗，含蓄典雅，修身節慾，奠定唐代佛教造像之基。

相似砂岩石佛首罕見，尤以此尺寸爲甚。此佛首壯麗端莊，雕刻細膩，與山西天龍山石窟造像相仿佛。有二佛首據傳來自第八窟，與其十分相似，但髮無鬈曲：其一，尺寸相近，現藏納爾遜藝術博物館，收錄於天龍山石窟項目，編號NEL.F99.29；其二，尺寸略小，藏於大阪市立美術館，編號OSA.2929。據該窟中銘文記載，始建於隋開皇四年（584年），乃唯一能清晰斷代為隋之窟。尚有一佛首略小，髻髮更繁，藏於阿姆斯特丹荷蘭國立博物館，公認來自天龍山石窟，斷代至唐，編號RMV.2334.2。至於參拍之例，見一曾售於紐約蘇富比，1985年6月3日，編號21；及一售於香港蘇富比，1997年4月29日，編號715。