Carved hollow wood figure of a Bodhisattva standing on a pedestal, with left arm down and missing right forearm once raised. The figure has a full face with slightly parted fleshy lips, black eyes and long hair parted and swept up into a topknot that is fronted by a diadem carved with a lotus base and jewelled buckle; bound tresses of hair, some missing, fall gracefully over the shoulders. The belted tunic worn by the Bodhisattva is held up by one studded strap with fringed end – so leaving the chest mostly bare – and falls in pleats over the thighs to an irregular hem; under this the dhoti is gathered at the calves, the material drawn up to reveal the extant bare right foot. The wide belt has rope-twist borders and is set with carved rectangular plaques, partly hidden in front by a pendant sash with loosely knotted bow. A collared shawl, with pleats and folds, covers the shoulders and back and an elaborate necklace, carved with dragon fish confronting a roundel with pendant bud, hangs at the chest. The surface of the wood is still partly covered by gesso bearing traces of gilding and painted in a few areas with remnants of green, red and black pigments.

Provenance:

Paul Houo-Ming-Tse, Paris.

Gérard Devillers, Paris.


Published:

Paul Houo-Ming-Tse, ‘Preuves des Antiquités de Chine’, Beijing, 1930, page 314, left hand side.

Hôtel Drouot, ‘Objets d’art de la Chine: Collection Paul Houo-Ming-Tse’, Paris, 1932, number 84.

Similar examples:

O. Sirén, ‘Kinas Konst Under Tre Årtusenden’, volume 2, Stockholm, 1943, figure 122 for a standing Bodhisattva, now in the Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto.

‘L’Illustrazione Italiana: Testimonianze d’arte orientale’, year 1, number 3, Milan, Autumn, 1974, plate 18 for a Bodhisattva of very similar proportions in the National Museum of Oriental Art, Rome.

Large wood sculptures were made in the north in Shanxi province to adorn temples; they were often made of the local catalpa wood (tong) and were invariably painted and gilded. They occasionally survive with dated tablets such as the large famous Guanyin (height: 190.5cm) from the modern Linfen prefecture in southern Shanxi, and now in the Royal Ontario Museum, dated 11951, and a Guanyin in the Metropolitan Museum, New York, dated 12822. However, it seems likely that the tradition of carving these large wooden figures dates from an earlier period.

1 Barbara Stephen et al., ‘Homage to Heaven, Homage to Earth: Chinese Treasures of the Royal Ontario Museum’, Toronto, 1992, plate 104.

2 Alan Priest, ‘Chinese Sculpture in the Metropolitan Museum of Art’, New York, 1944, plate 116.