AN IMPORTANT MARBLE FIGURE OF BUDDHA SHAKYAMUNI China,... Lot 137

AN IMPORTANT MARBLE FIGURE OF BUDDHA SHAKYAMUNI China, Eastern Wei Dynasty H. 98 cm (o.S.) Standing in samabhanga on a tapering conical-shaped base with his body slightly bent backwards, his right hand broken while the left is showing the varadamudra, wearing monastic garment including an underskirt fastened around his middle with a ribbon knotted to the front and falling down in pleats along his legs covering partly his feet, a wide-sleeved mantle draped over both shoulders with a large and broad section passing along his chest to narrow before encompassing his left arm, his face displaying a serene expression with slit eyes below arched eyebrows that run into the nose-bridge, well-defined smiling lips, elongated earlobes, the curled hairdo continuing into a high ushnisha and a partly damaged halo behind sculpted with a central lotus flower, on wood base. From an old South German private collection, acquired from Günter Venzke, Berlin, in March 1999 The present carving documents the emergence of stone steles as an important Buddhist sculptural medium in China. It evolved during the period of dynamic growth of Buddhism in the Northern Wei dynasty (386-534), when state-sponsorship of Buddhism enabled the rapid spread of the religion throughout Northern China. The 5th century saw the formation of Buddhist devotional societies throughout China. These groups sparked a burst of creativity in the production of religious art as devotees fervently commissioned steles to be made, as such acts of personal devotion were linked to the accumulation of merits for their future life. By the 6th century, these groups became the chief patrons of steles, with a smaller number sponsored by individual donors and families. A multitude of regional workshops flourished during that time, many of which developed their own style using the monumental cave temple carvings as models. - Partly damaged