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A RARE AND MAGNIFICENT GILT GREEN MARBLE HEAD OF BUDDHA, NORTHERN QI DYNASTY, 550-577
奥地利
06月27日 下午5点 开拍
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Description

A RARE AND MAGNIFICENT GILT GREEN MARBLE HEAD OF BUDDHA, NORTHERN QI DYNASTY, 550-577

Expert authentication: Dr. Chang Qing has authenticated this lot, identifying its iconographic and stylistic characteristics as typical of Northern Qi images found in Shandong province. A notarized copy of Dr. Chang’s expertise, dated April 18, 2021, in the State of New York, accompanies this lot.
Dr. Chang holds a Ph.D. in Art History from the University of Kansas and has held prestigious positions, including post-doctoral fellow at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and senior research fellow at the Freer and Sackler Galleries of the Smithsonian Institute. He has conducted extensive research in China, participating in archaeological excavations at various historical sites. Dr. Chang is the author of several influential works, including Compassionate Beings in Metal and Stone: Chinese Buddhist Sculptures from The Freer Gallery of Art (2016) and Light of the Buddha in the Desert: Essays on Mogao Grottoes in Dunhuang from 5th-14th Centuries (2012). He is currently a professor at Arts College, Sichuan University.

China. Exemplifying the classic, almost stoic elegance typical of Northern Qi sculpture, this piece is finely carved from exceptionally high-quality stone. The round face exudes a gently smiling, benevolent expression, with well-defined features such as heavy-lidded eyes, bow-shaped lips, and a prominent chin, all flanked by elongated earlobes. The head is surmounted by a domed ushnisha adorned with large, neatly incised whorl-like curls, further emphasizing the calm and dignified aura that is a hallmark of the period.

Expert’s Note: Green marble is a metamorphic stone colored by serpentine minerals, prized in ancient China for its rich hue and fine polish. It is extremely rare to find it in Buddhist sculpture due to the limited number of local deposits.

Provenance: From a private collection in New York, United States.
Condition: Very good condition, commensurate with age. Wear, obvious losses, structural fissures, encrustations, chips, and nicks. Ancient weathering, traces of erosion. Flaking and losses to pigment and gilt.

Weight: 24.5 kg (incl. stand)
Dimensions: Height 35 cm (excl. stand), 48.5 cm (incl. stand)

Mounted on a modern stand. (2)

The Northern Qi style is an indirect interpretation of the Indian Gupta style, particularly the Sarnath school, introduced to China via Central Asian trade routes. This adoption of foreign aesthetics reflects the socio-political shifts at the beginning of the Northern Qi period, when its rulers embraced non-Han stylistic traditions, in contrast to the Sinicization efforts of the Northern Wei rulers. Key characteristics of the Northern Qi style include the small mouth, thin nose, large elongated ears with flat, unpierced lobes, and distinctive whorl-like curls.

Literature comparison:
Compare a related limestone head of Buddha with traces of gilding, Northern Qi dynasty, mid-6th century, Shandong or Hebei province, 24.1 cm high, in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, object number 2001.422.

Auction result comparison:
Type: Related
Auction: Bonhams New York, 19 March 2018, lot 8160
Price: USD 118,750 or approx. EUR 136,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A Limestone Head of Buddha, Northern Qi/Sui Dynasty
Expert remark: Compare the related modeling, manner of carving, and size (37 cm). Note the different stone.

Auction result comparison:
Type: Related
Auction: Christie’s London, 11 May 2010, lot 183
Price: GBP 43,250 or approx. EUR 91,500 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A white marble head of Buddha, Northern Qi dynasty
Expert remark: Compare the closely related modeling and manner of carving with similar features and whorled hairstyle. Note the different stone and the size (28 cm).

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价格信息

拍品估价:4,000 - 8,000 欧元 起拍价格:4,000 欧元  买家佣金: 35.00%

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