A LARGE FINELY CARVED SANDSTONE HEAD OF AVALOKITESHVARA NORTHERN QI – SUI DYNASTY |

the oval face carved with a serene expression, the straight broad nose rising to arched brows above downcast eyes and full lips in a gentle smile, with the rounded cheeks flanked by pendulous ears, the hair centrally parted and surmounted by a tall headdress elaborately carved with palmettes and foliate motifs centred by a figure of Amitabha Buddha, stand

Mathias Komor, Beijing, 7th October 1940.
Collection of Francesco Maria, Marchese Taliani de Marchio (1887-1968), Italian ambassador to China from 1938-46.

As visible in the catalogue photo the head is in overall good condition with just typical expected breaks to the headdress and tips of the earlobes. There is also minor infilling to the edge of the nose.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

This serene head depicts the bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara. The sublimely carved oval face is counterbalanced by a tall crown richly carved with palmettes and foliate motifs, centred by a figure of Amitabha Buddha. It combines traces of the Northern Qi style in the slight angularity of the features with the more rounded style of the Sui, seen in the full cheeks and sumptuously carved crown. As such, it foreshadows the Sui dynasty’s trend towards naturalism with the inherited idealised forms that conventionally conveyed the purity of Buddhist subjects. The political and social turmoil that accompanied dynastic changes in the 6th century significantly impacted Chinese Buddhist practice in several ways which are reflected in religious art of the period. In their search for refuge beyond the chaos of the material world, a variant form of Pure Land Buddhism, in which devotion to Amitabha (or a bodhisattva such as Avalokiteshvara) allowed adherents to be reborn in Sukhavati (the Western Paradise of the Buddha Amitabha), grew in popularity. Consequently, images of bodhisattvas proliferated in the third quarter of the 6th century, as evidenced by the present and numerous contemporaneous examples. The Sui dynasty emperors used this invigoration of Buddhist faith as an opportunity to embark on major building projects, including the construction of pagodas, temples and religious statuary, as a means of unifying the fragmented empire. This religio-political agenda also led to increased communication across eastern Eurasia, which contributed to the transmission of Buddhist concepts and artistic styles from South and Central Asia into China and from China to Korea and Japan. This had the concurrent effect of diversifying the visual vocabulary of each region of the empire. 

This is an exquisite sculpture with a prestigious provenance dating back to 1940, when it was acquired from Mathias Komor in Beijing by Francesco Maria, Marchese Taliani de Marchio (1887-1968), an Italian diplomat who served as Ambassador to China between 1938 and 1946. In the style of carving and texture of the stone, it is reminiscent of sculptures from the Tianlongshan Caves, Shanxi province, and most closely related to the sculpture from Cave 16, traditionally assigned to the Northern Qi dynasty. See several bodhisattva heads published in Tianlongshan shi ku [Tianlongshan grottoes], Beijing, 2004, pls 145-147, 151 and 156. Further related heads believed to have come from Tianlongshan include one in the Minneapolis Museum of Art, Minneapolis, coll. no. MIA.L2015.172.8; and two in the Nezu Museum, Tokyo, coll. nos NZM.20081 and NZM.20065. Compare also a carved figure of Guanyin in the Detroit Institute of Arts, accession no. 26.128, dated by inscription to 581 and attributed to Shaanxi or Henan province by Osvald Sirén in Chinese Sculpture from the Fifth to the Fourteenth Century, vols 1 and 4, New York, 1925, pl. 305.

For a Northern Qi sandstone head sold at auction, see the image of Buddha included in the exhibition, China Cultuur Vroeger en nu [Chinese culture past & present], Centrum voor Kunst en Cultuur [Centre for arts and culture], Gent, 1979, no. 292 and illustrated in Ancient Chinese Bronze and Sculpture, Eskenazi Ltd., London, 2005, cat. no. 8, and sold in these rooms, 7th April 2014, lot 3604.