拍品描述:拍品专文：This large seated sandstone figure of Maitreya, the Buddha of the Future, finely carved with robes elegantly draping across his chest and legs, is representative of the grace, realism, and devotion found in Tang dynasty Buddhist sculpture. In the early Tang dynasty, imperial patronage both sponsored artistic projects and fostered the growth of Buddhism. Empress Wu Zetian (r. 684-704) was a devout Buddhist and patron for many important Buddhist sites. One prominent site built at the time, Huijian cave, near the Longmen caves, south of Luoyang, features a seated Maitreya, signifying the importance and popularity of Maitreya in the early Tang dynasty. According to A. Howard in Chinese Sculpture, “From the Han to the Southern Song”, New Haven, 2006, p. 299, “The choice of a seated Maitreya reflects the empress’s strong support of the Maitreya cult. The style of this imposing Buddha-with his powerful chest and limbs discernible under the incised robes- successfully conveys the sense of a strong, naturally shaped body…The Huijian Buddha reflects an idealized kind of realism.” Imagery in Tang dynasty Buddhist Art also reflects the burgeoning importance of Pure Land Buddhism, a branch of Mahayana Buddhism focused on achieving rebirth in a Pure Land. A Tang dynasty stele in The Metropolitan Museum of Art depicting Pure Land ideology is illustrated in D. Leidy, Wisdom Embodied：Chinese Buddhist and Daoist Sculpture in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 2010, pp. 94-95, cat. no. 15. The front of the stele depicts paired bodhisattvas, which are representative of the Pure Land paradise, and the reverse depicts three niches, each with a Buddha accompanied by attendants. The niche at the top of the stele depicts Maitreya in Ketumati, an earthy paradise that will be created during his final birth, where he will serve as the teaching Buddha. When the present figure was made, Maitreya was of the utmost importance to the Buddhist ideology of the time. The figure rests on a stepped pedestal, carved on the front with two lotus flowers upon which the figure rests his feet. A similar seated figure of Maitreya, dated to AD 675, also seated on a pedestal base with lotus flowers beneath the figure’s feet, is in the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, illustrated by Jin Shen in Hai wai ji Gang yai cang li dai fo xiang：zhen pin ji nian tu jian (Catalogue of Treasures of Buddhist Sculptures in Overseas Collections Including Hong Kong and Taiwan), Shanxi, 2007, p. 192. The same figure is illustrated again by d'Argencé, et al., Chinese, Korean and Japanese Sculpture, Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, 1974, pp. 180-81, no. 85, where it is noted that the linear garment folds, calm facial expressions, and curled hair are commonly found on images of Maitreya during the latter part of the seventh century. See, also, the finely modeled Tang dynasty marble torso of Maitreya, with similar robes to the present figure, sold at Bonhams Los Angeles, 22 June 2021, lot 21. The pedestal support of the current figure is carved with unusual features including faces around the lower plinth, a dancer on the reverse and faint figures that may be musicians on the sides. A painted grey stone stele of Buddha, dated to the late 7th/early 8th century, illustrated in Fojiao Diaosu Mingpin Tulu (Images of Famous Buddhist Sculpture), Beijing, 1997, pp. 111-12, nos. 103-4, also depicts a plinth carved on the sides with musicians and on the back with dancers. A Tang dynasty stone stele featuring Buddha and two attendants in the Tokyo National Museum, illustrated by S. Matsubara in Chuugoku Bukkyo Chokokushi Ron (The Path of Buddhist Sculpture), vol. 3, Tang, Five Dynasties, Song and Taoism Sculpture, Tokyo, 1995, pl. 612, also depicts a dancer and musicians in the upper register of the stele. 来源：戴润斋, 纽约 阿瑟·姆·赛克勒(1913-1987) 珍藏 阿瑟·姆·赛克勒珍藏, 哥伦比亚大学 阿瑟·姆·赛克勒基金会, 2001年 展开