**Originally Listed At $4500**

East Asia, China, Six Dynasties Period, Northern Qi Dynasty, ca. 550 to 577 CE. A remarkable hand-carved stone sculpture of Buddha shown seated in lotus position. Capped by tightly curled hair in a conical shape, symbolizing his nobility, his round visage epitomizes tranquility via his bowed lips, closed in silent contemplation, his austere straight nasal bridge leading to a wide nose, and his downcast almond-shaped eyes framed by sweeping arched eyebrows. His serene face is flanked by a pair of elongated ears, displaying pendulous lobes, evocative of the time before he renounced all worldly possessions and hung lavish jewels from them. A clear urna - a dot symbolizing enlightenment - is on the forehead. His slender body is draped in a thin robe, which is suspended by his left shoulder and cascades down his chest. The verso is incised with 3 lines of Chinese script. Size: 16.75" W x 25" H (42.5 cm x 63.5 cm)

Around the 1st century CE, Buddhism came to China along the Silk Road from India; it brought with it an entirely new visual and artistic iconography. The northern rulers of China in the mid-1st millennium CE sponsored the creation of much beautiful and artistically distinct Buddhist artwork. This example is characteristic of the sculpture produced in Shandong province, northeastern China. The discovery in 1996 of over 400 Buddhist sculptures - broken heads and hands, and hundreds of intact torsos, many with gilding and paint still in good condition - in a field that was once the site of a Buddhist monastery in Qingzhou has allowed archaeologists to understand the artwork of this time period much better. The Qingzhou discovery was the largest known group of such sculptures, but other small caches have been found since the 1970s elsewhere in northeastern China. Fascinatingly, most of these sculptures were made during the Northern Qi period, but were buried - based on coins found alongside them - in the 12th century CE, six hundred years later. This seems to have been done to protect the beautiful artwork from the Qi period from anti-Buddhist sentiment.

This piece has been searched against the Art Loss Register database and has been cleared. The Art Loss Register maintains the world’s largest database of stolen art, collectibles, and antiques.

Provenance: private Hawaii, USA collection; ex-M. Kobiashi collection, Hawaii, USA, 1960 to 2000

All items legal to buy/sell under U.S. Statute covering cultural patrimony Code 2600, CHAPTER 14, and are guaranteed to be as described or your money back.

A Certificate of Authenticity will accompany all winning bids.

PLEASE NOTE: Due to recent increases of shipments being seized by Australian & German customs (even for items with pre-UNESCO provenance), we will no longer ship most antiquities and ancient Chinese art to Australia & Germany. For categories of items that are acceptable to ship to Australia or Germany, please contact us directly or work with your local customs brokerage firm.

Display stands not described as included/custom in the item description are for photography purposes only and will not be included with the item upon shipping.

#164884

Missing arms. Stable fissure on verso of base. Expected nicks and abrasions, commensurate with age. Some softening of incised detail. Otherwise, excellent with nice remaining detail.