China, 581-618. Standing in samabhanga atop a circular lotus base, the hands resting at the waist with the left hand clasping the right wrist, dressed in a loose-fitting robe cascading in elegantly rippling folds and gathering at the feet, richly adorned in elaborate beaded jewelry with floral medallions and fine ribbons. The oval face with fleshy cheeks and a softly rounded chin, the bow-shaped lips drawn closed, the straight nose leading to the broad arched eyebrows, the eyelids partially lowered in contemplation, the face framed by pendulous ears to either side and a tall crown decorated with circular and foliate designs centered by a tassel.

Provenance: From a noted Hungarian private collection.
Condition: Good condition, commensurate with age. Wear, signs of weathering and erosions, chips, scratches, nicks, structural cracks, expected losses. Layers of lacquer and pigment which have been renewed over centuries. The base slightly angled. A good and solid patina overall, naturally grown in its entirety.

Dimensions: Height 201 cm (the figure overall) and 42 cm (the head alone)

Sumptuously carved with fleshy cheeks, broad arched brows and a large straight nose that leads the eye down to the plump lips, these features exemplify a crucial sculptural transition from the linear and structured depictions of bodhisattvas of the preceding Northern Qi (550-577) and Northern Zhou (557-581) periods to the fully rounded and fleshy forms of the Tang dynasty (618-907). Its oval face and idealized expression, which exude deep spirituality, display an early attempt at naturalism, while its richly carved crown with floral petals is reminiscent of the stylized aesthetic of the preceding dynasties.

The Sui dynasty unified China in 589 after a long period of cultural, political and military fragmentation, which began with the fall of the Han dynasty in 220 AD. Buddhism was seen as a means to unite the empire and consolidate dynastic power, hence Sui rulers began the construction of major religious buildings and commissioned Buddhist images. While Sui sculptures stylistically continue in the traditions established in the preceding dynasties, “characteristics that were latent in the two preceding styles were brought to full blossom by Sui carvers” (Angela F. Howard, Chinese Sculpture, New Haven, 2006, p. 290). Osvald Sirén in Chinese Marble Sculptures of the Transition Period, Bulletin of the Museum of Fine Eastern Art, 1940, no. 12, p. 490, states that “The observation of nature seems indeed to have increased as well as the mastery of the sculptural form”.

Excavations at Qingzhou (Shandong) have yielded Northern Qi and Sui limestone standing bodhisattvas, detailed with polychrome pigments and gilding, that similarly bear full, oval faces crowned by intricate diadems with petaled lobes and pendent tassels, suggesting a geographic and cultural origin for this style of carving.

Literature comparison:
Compare a related painted limestone figure of a bodhisattva, also dated to the Sui dynasty, 185.4 cm high, in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, accession number 42.25.3a, b. Compare a related limestone figure of a bodhisattva, dated to the Northern Qi dynasty, in the collection of the Qingzhou Museum, Shandong.

Auction result comparison:
Type: Closely related
Auction: Sotheby’s New York, 10 September 2019, lot 60
Price: USD 200,000 or approx. EUR 222,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A large carved limestone head of a bodhisattva, Sui dynasty
Expert remark: Compare the closely related modeling and manner of carving with similar facial features and crown with circular designs and tassels. Note the size (40.7 cm) which is almost identical to that of the present head.