Stone Head of a Bodhisattva
Sui period, 581 - 618
Height: 36.5cm
Large limestone head of a Bodhisattva. The oval face is crisply carved with arching double-lined eyebrows over the almond-shaped eyes. The nose is finely shaped and beneath it the small mouth is set with deep dimples in the corners. The deity wears an expression of benevolence and calm. The head is adorned by an elaborate crown fronted by a large oval flower-head with rows of radiating petals, with further flower-heads along the sides. The flower-heads are connected by loops of pearls each emerging, along with a single beaded strand, from a pendent trefoil. The crown is edged by a beaded border along the high forehead and knotted ribbons flutter above each long ear-lobe ornamented by tasselled pearl roundel earrings. The sloping top of the head is left smooth and the back is also left plain except for the carved band securing the diadem and a square aperture, once for the attachment of a mandorla.
Provenance:
By repute, from Xi’an, Shaanxi province.
Acquired from S. Bing, Paris (2nd June 1911).
Adolphe Stoclet, Brussels.
Madame Féron-Stoclet, Brussels.
Exhibited:
Paris, 1913, Musée Cernuschi.
Amsterdam, 1925, Municipal Museum.
Paris, 1954, Musée Cernuschi.
Published:
H. d’Ardenne de Tizac, ‘L’Art Bouddhique au Musée Cernuschi’, Paris, 1913, plate 14, number 101.
Ostasiatische Zeitschrift, II, 3, Berlin, 1913-14, page 337.
Curt Glaser, ‘Ostasiatische Plastik’, Berlin, 1925, page 43, plate 9.
‘Exhibition of Chinese Art’, Municipal Museum, Amsterdam, 1925, number 103.
O. Sirén, ‘Chinese Sculpture’, London, 1925, volume III, plate 304C.
J. Cuisinier, ‘Collections of Oriental Art in Belgium: Indian Art and Letters’, London, 1928, page 81, plate H.
René Grousset, ‘Les Civilisations de l’Orient’, Paris, 1930, page 194, plate 155.
Daisy Lion-Goldschmidt, ‘L’Art Chinois’, Paris, 1931, figure 56.
Daisy Lion-Goldschmidt, ‘Les Arts de la Chine’, Paris, 1937, front cover.
Otto Fischer, ‘Chinesische Plastik’, Munich, 1948, plate 84.
H.F.E. Visser, ‘Asiatic Art in Private Collections of Holland and Belgium’, Amsterdam, 1948, plate 82, number 161.
René Grousset, ‘La Chine et son Art’, Paris, 1951, between pages 112 and 113.
André Malraux, ‘Les Voix du Silence’, Paris, 1952, page 171.
André Malraux, ‘Le Musée Imaginaire de la Sculpture Mondiale’, Paris, 1952, plate 298.
Musée Cernuschi, ‘La Découverte de L’Asie’, Paris, 1954, number 98.
Georges A. Salles and Daisy Lion-Goldschmidt, ‘Collection Adolphe Stoclet’, Brussels, 1956, pages 392-393.
René Grousset, ‘Chinese Art and Culture’, London, 1959, plate 29.
Daisy Lion-Goldschmidt and Jean-Claude Moreau-Gobard, ‘Chinese Art: Bronze, Jade, Sculpture, Ceramics’, London, 1960, pages 266-267, number 119.
Wu Shuren ed., ‘Zhongguo diaosu yishu gaiyao’, (An Outline of Chinese Sculpture), Taibei, 1976, plate 125.
Karl With, ‘Asiatische Monumentalplastik’ (Orbis Pictus), Berlin, n.d., vol 5, page 31.
Similar examples:
O. Sirén, ‘Chinese Sculpture’, London, 1925, volume III, plate 304A and D for two other Bodhisattvas with similar elaborate high crowns with pearl chains, the former in the collection of T. Hara, Sannotani and the latter previously in the Doucet collection, Paris, and now in the Musée Cernuschi, Paris. Another view of the second head is illustrated by Marie-Therese Bobot, ‘Chine Connue et Inconnue’, Paris, 1992, page 13, number 3.
Sugimura Isatsuku, ‘Ryojun hakubutsukan zuroku’, (Catalogue of the Port Arthur Museum), Tokyo, 1953, plate 91.
Eskenazi, ‘Ancient Chinese Sculpture’, London, 1978, number 17.
There appears to be a group of Bodhisattvas from the Sui period wearing elaborate high crowns, some of which are illustrated by Sirén as cited above. It has been suggested by Seiichi Mizuno1 that the rich adornment of the Bodhisattvas may be related to the wealth and luxury enjoyed by the Sui court, particularly during the reign of Emperor Yang (604–617). It is also possible that this rich adornment may be traced to the influence of the sculpture of Gupta India2.
1 Seiichi Mizuno, ‘Bronze and Stone Sculpture of China’, Tokyo, 1960, page 20.
2 See for instance the figure of Vishnu with a high beaded crown, dated Gupta, 5th century, illustrated by Sir Leigh Ashton in the exhibition catalogue, ‘The Art of India and Pakistan’, London, 1947-8, plate 28.