J.J. Lally & Co., Oriental Art / New York City, New York
MenuPast Exhibition
Two Thousand Years of Chinese Sculpture
March 17-29, 2008
23.
A LARGE PAINTED AND GILDED STUCCO HEAD OF A BODHISATTVA
Yuan Dynasty, circa 14th Century
shown larger than life size, the face with distinctly feminine aspect and serene expression, modelled with broad cheeks, plump square jaw, and half-closed eyes inlaid with glass, the wide forehead with a central recess once inlaid with a ‘jewel’ for the urna, the nose with a prominent bridge which curves into arched eyebrows painted in black, the small mouth with pursed lips painted red, the hair painted teal-blue and gathered up into a high topknot behind an elaborate crown of flowers painted in red and gold, centered with a gold-painted dragon.
Height 21 inches (53.5 cm)
Compare the three similarly modelled stucco bodhisattvas with elaborate headdresses dated to the Jin dynasty, at the Chongfu temple of Shuozhou, Shanxi province, illustrated in Zhongguo siguan diaosu quanji: Liao, Jin, Yuan siguan zaoxiang (Compendium of Chinese Monastery Sculpture, Vol. 3: Statues from the Liao, Jin and Yuan Dynasties), Harbin, 2005, nos. 46-48, with description on p. 17. Another bodhisattva of closely related form attributed by the author to Yuan dynasty, in the Huiji temple of Yuanpin, Shanxi province is illustrated in the same volume, ibid, no. 147, with description on p. 55.
The northern Chinese province of Shanxi was a great center of Buddhism over the centuries and the decoration of temples and monasteries with stucco sculptures painted with bright mineral pigments was widespread and popular in Shanxi from the Tang dynasty onwards. For an excellent survey of the subject, see the essay on Buddhist painted stucco sculpture of Shanxi by Jin Weinuo in Shanxi fojiao caisu (Buddhist Sculpture of Shanxi Province), Beijing, 1991.
元 彩塑菩薩頭像 高 53.5 厘米
23.
A LARGE PAINTED AND GILDED STUCCO HEAD OF A BODHISATTVA
Yuan Dynasty, circa 14th Century
Height 21 inches (53.5 cm)