Limestone Head

Dark grey limestone head of a Bodhisattva, shown in three-quarter profile, rather than fully in the round. The whole figure was originally carved directly on to the wall of a cave to the proper left of a Buddha. The Bodhisattva has arched brows, elongated almond-shaped eyes and delicate full lips. The hair is braided, centrally parted and arranged into a tall topknot that is set in coils to either side and bound in front. The stone is covered in areas with remains of a gesso-like substance, the base for pigments, with traces of red surviving at the neck where broken off from the body.

Provenance:

Possibly from the Longmen cave temples, Henan province.

Private collection, France.

Private collection, England.

Genty collection, Spain.

Similar examples:

‘Hai-Wai Yi-Chen: Chinese Art in Overseas Collections, Buddhist Sculpture II’, Taibei, 1990, page 133, number 128 for a smaller head, formerly in the Heeramaneck collection and now in the Los Angeles County Museum; the same head was included in the exhibition ‘The Arts of the T’ang Dynasty’, Los Angeles, 1957, catalogue number 54.

O. Kümmel, ‘Chinesische Kunst’, (Exhibition of Chinese Art), Berlin, 1929, catalogue number 298.

The style of carving and the stone of which it is made suggest that this head may have originally come from one of the main Tang caves at Longmen, Henan province. The scale of the head indicates that the whole figure formed part of a trinity or a larger group of figures in which the Buddha was placed in the middle. An example of such a grouping is seen in the Jinan cave (built between 711 - 713).1

The Longmen cave temples were started shortly after 494, when the Northern Wei capital moved to Luoyang. As at Yungang, some of the caves at Longmen, such as the Binyang cave were under imperial patronage, but the many dedicatory inscriptions show that this was not invariably the case. Unlike at Yungang, where almost all the work was concentrated in a forty-year period before 500, the decoration of the caves at Longmen continued on a large scale until the end of the Tang period, to a greater or lesser degree of intensity. The head in the present exhibition is probably associated with the phase of decoration dating from the mid 7th to early 8th century, spanning the reigns of the Emperor Gaozong, the Empress Wu and her two short-lived successors. The most important caves and temples at Longmen created under the imperial patronage of Empress Wu include, amongst others, the Fengxiansi, the Dawanwufo Cave and the southern and northern Leigutai Caves.

1 Wen Yucheng, ed., ‘Zhongguo meishu quanji; diaosu bian 11: Longmen shiku diaoke’, (The Great Treasury of Chinese Art; Sculpture, volume 11: Longmen Caves), Beijing, 1988, pages 168 - 171, numbers 171 to 174.




	10 Limestone Head of a Bodhisattva Tang period, 618 - 907 Height: 36.0cm
	Dark grey limestone head of a Bodhisattva, shown in three-quarter profile, rather than fully in the round. The whole figure was originally carved directly on to the wall of a cave to the proper left of a Buddha. The Bodhisattva has arched brows, elongated almond-shaped eyes and delicate full lips. The hair is braided, centrally parted and arranged into a tall topknot that is set in coils to either side and bound in front. The stone is covered in areas with remains of a gesso-like substance, the base for pigments, with traces of red surviving at the neck where broken off from the body. Provenance: Possibly from the Longmen cave temples, Henan province. Private collection, France. Private collection, England. Genty collection, Spain. Similar examples: ‘Hai-Wai Yi-Chen: Chinese Art in Overseas Collections, Buddhist Sculpture II’, Taibei, 1990, page 133, number 128 for a smaller head, formerly in the Heeramaneck collection and now in the Los Angeles County Museum; the same head was included in the exhibition ‘The Arts of the T’ang Dynasty’, Los Angeles, 1957, catalogue number 54. O. Kümmel, ‘Chinesische Kunst’, (Exhibition of Chinese Art), Berlin, 1929, catalogue number 298. The style of carving and the stone of which it is made suggest that this head may have originally come from one of the main Tang caves at Longmen, Henan province. The scale of the head indicates that the whole figure formed part of a trinity or a larger group of figures in which the Buddha was placed in the middle. An example of such a grouping is seen in the Jinan cave (built between 711 - 713).1 The Longmen cave temples were started shortly after 494, when the Northern Wei capital moved to Luoyang. As at Yungang, some of the caves at Longmen, such as the Binyang cave were under imperial patronage, but the many dedicatory inscriptions show that this was not invariably the case. Unlike at Yungang, where almost all the work was concentrated in a forty-year period before 500, the decoration of the caves at Longmen continued on a large scale until the end of the Tang period, to a greater or lesser degree of intensity. The head in the present exhibition is probably associated with the phase of decoration dating from the mid 7th to early 8th century, spanning the reigns of the Emperor Gaozong, the Empress Wu and her two short-lived successors. The most important caves and temples at Longmen created under the imperial patronage of Empress Wu include, amongst others, the Fengxiansi, the Dawanwufo Cave and the southern and northern Leigutai Caves. 1 Wen Yucheng, ed., ‘Zhongguo meishu quanji; diaosu bian 11: Longmen shiku diaoke’, (The Great Treasury of Chinese Art; Sculpture, volume 11: Longmen Caves), Beijing, 1988, pages 168 - 171, numbers 171 to 174.