A Limestone Head of Buddha Tang Dynasty

carved with a serene expression with beautific smile and slender downcast eyes, the plump face with rounded cheeks, arched eyebrows and a small mouth with full lips, framed by whorls of curling hair, the stone of dark grey patina, metal stand

Weishaupt collection, Berlin.
A private collection, Paris.
Eskenazi Ltd., London.

Ancient Chinese Bronze and Sculpture, Eskenazi Ltd., London, 2005, cat. no. 10.

This finely carved small head is closely related in style to other heads found at the Longmen Caves, Henan, and it is possible it originated from one of the Tang dynasty temples there. For a published example, see Longmen Cave Institute ed., Longmen liusan diaoxiang ji [The Lost Sculptures of the Longmen Caves], Shanghai, 1993, p. 50, cat. no. 57 for a larger head now in a private French collection.