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China. Finely carved with three bodhisattvas standing in slight tribhanga atop swirling clouds emanating from a worshipper below, seated in dhyanasana and flanked by two ferociously roaring lions. Each deity is wearing voluminous celestial robes and is backed by an oval nimbus. The base carved with a dedicatory inscription and date.
Inscriptions: To the front of the base, ‘Made by Bhiku Fasheng for Emperor Xiaowen and Prince Beihai with his mother on the third day of the twelfth month in the fourth year of the Jingming era of the Wei period’ (corresponding to 503).
Provenance: Old collection of Charles Grosbois, and thence by descent. Deburaux Du Plessis, Paris, 23 November 2018, lot 37 (originally dated to the Northern Wei period, 6th century, by Cabinet Ansas Papillon in the printed catalog, the piece was later redated to the Song dynasty, the reasons for this amendment being unknown to this author), sold for EUR 4,045 or approx. EUR 4,700 (adjusted for inflation at the time of writing). A French private collection, acquired from the above, and thence by descent to the last owner. Charles Louis Jean Grosbois (1893-1972) was a French diplomat and educator who spent over thirty years in Shanghai, China, until 1951. Initially a violinist in France, Grosbois also studied literature, philosophy, and music. His life took a dramatic turn when he lost his right hand during World War I in 1916, yet he continued to excel as a violinist. In Shanghai, he became the director of the French School in 1918 and later served as head of education for the French Concession. Grosbois was also vice-president of the Royal Asiatic Society, artistic director of Shanghai’s French radio station, and a key supporter of De Gaulle, founding the local branch of the Free French in 1940. After World War II, he launched the Courrier de Chine, the first French-language newspaper in post-war Shanghai, and led the French cultural mission until 1951. He later worked with UNESCO in Korea and served as director of the Kansai Institute of Japanese and French Studies in Kyoto before retiring in France.
Condition: Very good condition, commensurate with age. Ancient wear, signs of weathering and erosion, encrustations, expected losses, natural imperfections, structural cracks, small nicks, shallow chips.
Weight: 8.5 kg
Dimensions: Height 38.7 cm
In Mahayana Buddhism, the production of images of the Buddha was believed to be an act of merit for both artist and patron, and groups of lay Buddhists often pooled their patronage to commission stone steles such as the present example. The origins of Buddhist steles are traceable to two major historical events, both documented at the Buddhist cave temple sites of Yungang and Longmen (386-534), which occurred during the last two decades of the fifth century: the emergence of Buddhist devotional societies and the first espousal of tablets for Buddhist use. See D. C. Wong, Chinese Steles, Pre-Buddhist and Buddhist Use of a Symbolic Form, Honolulu, 2004, p. 43. The representation of a central figure of Buddha flanked by two attendants or Bodhisattvas was a Northern Wei innovation inspired by teachings in the Lotus Sutra, which was introduced into China during the sixth century.
Steles played an important role in the development of regional religious art. During the Northern Wei dynasty, state-sponsorship of Buddhism enabled the rapid spread of the religion throughout Northern China. At this time, Buddhist voluntary groups affiliated to local temples and organized by laymen became the main patrons of Buddhist steles which commemorated the group's religious, social, and territorial identity. The relative ubiquity of the medium employed to manufacture steles, and their small size, prompted a multitude of regional workshops, many of which developed their own style using the monumental cave temple carvings as a basis.
Expert’s note:
The inscription on the present stele can be identified as one of the Longmen Twenty Statues Inscriptions, which are famous and exemplary works of Weibei calligraphy. See a rubbing of the inscription from the Republic period, illustrated in Beijing tu shu guan cang Zhongguo li dai shi ke ta ben hui bian (‘A compilation of Chinese stone rubbings from past dynasties collected by the Beijing Library’), vol. 3, p. 69.
Literature comparison:
Compare a related stone stele inscribed depicting Buddha with bodhisattva and Buddhist lions, 50 cm high, dated 508, in the Art Museum at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, accession number 1981.0118.
Auction result comparison:
Type: Closely related
Auction: Christie’s New York, 25 March 2022, lot 738
Price: USD 17,640 or approx. EUR 17,500 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A grey stone Buddhist stele, eastern Wei dynasty (ad 534-550), dated by inscription to the 4th year of Tianping, corresponding to AD 537
Expert remark: Compare the related manner of carving. Note the different size (28.7 cm).
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