Provenance:
- With Wui Po Kok Antique Co., Hong Kong 1990-'s
- With Zen Gallery, Belgium 1998
- Private Collection, Brussels, Belgium 2023
Price on request
This object can be viewed in our gallery.
This large limestone bodhisattva which stands upright, is sculpted in the characteristic elegant style of the Northern Qi. The figure probably represents Avalokiteshvara (Guanyin). The head sits on a high columnar neck; the hair is tied in a topknot and crowned with a tiara, which is decorated around the front with stylized lotus leaves and round jewels. The beautiful face, has a rounded jawline and elongated earlobes; the high arched eyebrows curved elegantly over downcast, half-closed eyes. The mouth is smiling beatifically, giving the face a serene and beautiful expression. He wears a short top, wrapped around the upper body, stole draped over the shoulders and uppers arms; long skirt covers the legs. The back of the figure is comparatively flat, but carved with attention to detail.
The figure wears sumptuous jewels, embellished with looped strands of pearls, beads and pendants. Around the neck hangs an ornamental collar, inlaid with pearls or beads. Three larger jewels are suspend underneath, the largest has a chain from which a monster mask is suspended. A long ornamental chain yingluo瓔珞;, hangs over both shoulders and around the legs and back. It is gathered at the waist with a large ornament in the shape of a skull at the front and a flaming pearl at the back. A richly decorated sash, which hangs from the waist down between the legs, is divided by rows of pearls into seven panels with Buddhist motifs in relief.
Sculptures of bodhisattvas wearing extraordinary jewellery, epitomize stylistic and iconographic innovations in Chinese sculpture from the Northern Qi period. It is possible that the abundance of jewels this bodhisattva is wearing, refers to a passage in the Lotus Sutra in which the historical Buddha Shakyamuni and another bodhisattva praise Avalokiteshvara’s great compassion, presenting him with a pearl necklace as a symbol of his benevolence.
With the rise of the Northern Qi Dynasty, whose rulers where devout Buddhists, came a new style of sculpture which much less Sinicized than before. This new Buddhist imagery, was greatly influenced by Indian religious sculpture, as can be seen by the jewelled chains this figure wears.
After this period there was a struggle to harmonize the three religions in China. But Emperor Wu of the Northern states, decided that Confucianism should become the main belief in the country. In 574 AD, he officially banned Buddhism, leading to a large scale closure of the monasteries and destruction of religious artefacts. This rise and fall of Buddhism would continue throughout Chinese history The destruction also meant the removal and breakage of religious sculpture, which was often buried in pits near the temple sites.
An exceptionally large standing figure, with similar posture and jewelled harness, can be found in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum in New York (acc.nr. 65.29.4). The Qingzhou Museum in Shandong Province, China has a strikingly similar example excavated from the Longxing Temple.
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