| early chinese |
Head of the Buddha Carved of a fine grey limestone, this head exemplifies the best of early Buddhist Chinese sculpture. Modeled on Indian Gupta prototypes, with round full face, curved eyes and lips, and snail curl hair, it departs from them with the minimized ushnisha, and Chinese cast to the features. The Buddha, being enlightened, is shown in the blissful state of Nirvana, which he had attained after years of meditation and experimentation, finally finding the "middle path", and achieving a state of luminous consciousness beyond the cares of the physical world. As such, the slight smile of infinite knowledge, compassion and joy, and half closed eyes seemingly looking down expressing the inward gaze of this ecstatic state. The Northern Qi absorbed foreign influences, here from India and gave it a uniquely Chinese expression. This head is particularly fine, the incised lines for the eyebrows, and strongly delineated curving eyes and lips are beautifully carved. The surface is polished to a sheen, accented by the traces of burial encrustation. The ears, while damaged, show an unusual detail in their carving. The quality of the carving of this head, and its extraordinarily good preservation makes it an exceptional example of Northern Qi sculpture.  |