As one of the three major religions in the world, Buddhism was introduced to China through the Western Regions during the Han Dynasty and the Han Dynasty, and then integrated with Chinese culture and gradually developed and expanded. With the spread of Chinese Buddhist sects and the continuous evolution of their teachings, the Buddhist statues derived from them are not only the artistic heritage of ancient China, but also loved by collectors, and have now become one of the important collections in the global art market. To coincide with the Buddha's Birthday, Christie's Hong Kong Spring Auction highlights a number of Buddhist-themed art treasures from Christie's Hong Kong Spring Auction "Important Chinese Ceramics and Crafts" and "Ancient Chinese Paintings and Calligraphy", featuring a gilded bronze statue of the Buddha from the 15th century, and a rare Tang Dynasty scripture The Great Nirvana Sutra Volume XXVI.
Lot 2929
Nepal or Tibet
c. XV century
A gilded bronze statue of the Buddha
Estimate: HK$3,000,000-5,000,000
Source:
纽约Christian Humann珍藏，于1965年前购入；
It was part of its Pan-Asian Art Collection until 1977;
Ellsworth, New York, purchased before 1983;
Christie's New York, 21 September 2007, lot 173
Exhibit:
洛杉矶县博物馆，《The Sensuous Immortals: A Selection of Sculptures from the Pan-Asian Collection》，1977年10月25日-1978年1月15日；
西雅图美术馆;9 March – 23 April 1978;
Denver Museum of Art, May 26–July 30, 1978;
William Rockhill Nelson Gallery, 15 September – 29 October 1978
Publication:
P. Pal，《The Sensuous Immortals: A Selection of Sculptures from the Pan Asian Collection》，1977年，169页，图录编号98；
P. Pal，《The Arts of Nepal, Volume 1: Sculpture》，1978年，图175号
Presented in this season's Spring Auction of Important Chinese Ceramics and Crafts in Hong Kong, this gilded bronze statue of the Buddha is a tribute to the classic Buddhist statues of the early period. Whether the proportions of the body, the shape of the hand, the standing posture or the slightly outward left foot, this lot echoes the seventh-century Neporian statues in the Kimbell Museum of Art.
The Buddha has a unique face, with a square face that is wide and narrow at the bottom, a flat head, a high nose, and long ears that are flat on both sides of the face and neck. A 9th-century statue of Maitreya Buddha is similar in appearance, with high curved eyebrows connected to the nose and shins, full lips and a similar head. The robes of both are densely pleated at the neck, with slight undulations at the bottom, and the curves of their bodies are hazy rather than figurative. The hem of the robe flutters in a similar way in both cases, but this lot is more flequent.
Lot 807
Tang Dynasty
None
The Great Nirvana Sutra Volume XXVI
Ink and color on paper Hand roll
26 x 754 cm.
Estimate: HK$2,200,000-4,200,000
注:
In 2020, this volume was identified by Mr. Fang Guangqi as an authentic scripture written in the Tang Dynasty in the eighth and ninth centuries, and the title painting was painted in the original Tang Dynasty.
Presented by the live auction of "Ancient Chinese Paintings and Calligraphy", this volume was written in the Tang Dynasty and is intact from beginning to end. The original paper of the whole volume is not mounted, the original first heavenly rod, the frontispiece has the name of the scripture, the volume number, and the tail of the volume preserves the complete swallowtail of the Tang Dynasty scriptures. Cover the Tang Dynasty "Dafushan Temple Tibetan Scriptures" ink rectangular seal. The light ink depicts the black silk fence, and the scroll has a typical Buddhist painting of the Tang Dynasty, which is rare.
The Tang Dynasty painted Buddha portrait title painting is in the same vein as the Tang Dynasty Golden Light Sutra Volume VII in the Shandong Provincial Museum and the Tang Dynasty Great Prajna Sutra in the Zhejiang Provincial Museum (see picture below). Among the 1.02 million cultural relics in the Shanghai Museum, there are only 5 Tang Dynasty paintings, and the remaining 4 are fragments of Buddhist scriptures written in Dunhuang during the Tang Dynasty. The appearance of the Tang Dynasty paintings in this volume is of great significance, not only allowing future generations to understand the artistic characteristics, pigment composition, Buddhist rituals, etc., but also the length and completeness of the Tang Dynasty paintings are rare in recent decades.
From left to right: Shandong Provincial Museum collection of Tang Dynasty "Golden Light Sutra Volume VII" title painting, this volume title painting, Zhejiang Provincial Museum collection of Tang Dynasty "Great Prajna Sutra" title painting
Judging from the style of the book, this volume is quite mature. The direction of the long and horizontal pen is changeable, the middle section is imaginary, and there is a decorative pen at the end of the pen. Some points are as sharp as a knife, and the vertical pen is particularly vigorous. Vertical hooks and curved hooks, when the hook is lifted, slightly cushioned, and not directly out. It obviously has the characteristics of Ouyang Xun and Yan Zhenqing's regular script. The bearing is Yonghe and elegant, and it is very prosperous in the Tang Dynasty. In many places, calligraphy-based strokes are used, such as the writing method of "氵", and the local strokes of "empty" and "in"; As for the characters "this" and "also", as well as the iconic "S" shaped dot painting, it resembles the legacy of "Orchid Pavilion Preface" and Zhiyong's "True Grass Thousand Character Text".
Based on the two Tang Dynasty scriptures written in the Tang Dynasty, the two public collections of the Tang Dynasty, the Golden Light Sutra of the Shanbo Collection, the Great Prajna Sutra of the Zhejiang Bozang, and this volume (see the figure below), we find that they are the same in terms of the degree of evolution of the book and the similarity of the artistic style, which confirms the era coordinates and stylistic attribution of this volume. From the perspective of the evolution of the history of calligraphy, the calligraphy of this volume has a deep relationship with the famous regular script masters of the Tang Dynasty: it not only inherits the regular script style of Ouyang Xun, Yu Shinan, Chu Suiliang and Xue Ji in the early Tang Dynasty, but also opens the door to the development of regular script of Yan Zhenqing and Liu Gongquan in the middle and late Tang Dynasty.
"Xuanhe Book Pedigree" records the situation of Xue Ji, a famous scholar at that time: "When it is a scripture, it is wonderful to write a good method...... At that time, such as Xue Ji and his ilk also reverted to the sect, and the scriptures were wonderful, and the patriarchal Xue Ji. The Tang people emphasized the law, and it can be seen that the scholars are all outstanding in learning Chu Xue, and the scriptures they wrote are calligraphy treasures that retain the first-class style of the Tang Dynasty. In the comparison table, it can be seen that the superb calligraphy skills of this "Great Nirvana Sutra" are inherited from the style of famous artists in the Tang Dynasty. The silk and fine strength between the words and pens can be seen in the hard and fine strength, and its traces are really eye-catching, which can be called resistant and elegant. This volume presents the depression and majesty of the late Tang Dynasty. Among them, even if some words are placed in famous names such as Yan Zhenqing, Liu Gongquan, Xu Hao, etc., they are just strong and healthy, like a vein.
From left to right: this volume, Yan Zhenqing's "Duobao Pagoda", Liu Gongquan's "Diamond Sutra"
At the end of this volume, there is a seal of "Dafushan Temple Tibetan Scriptures", black ink stamp, long strips, the seal is a single line around it, the style is similar to the common Tibetan seal in the Tang and Song dynasties preserved in the Dunhuang Tibetan scripture cave, this seal is slightly larger than each line and single word of the Tang Dynasty scroll. This volume is the only one that can only be seen in the Tang Dynasty Tibetan scriptures of Dafushan Temple. "Dafushan Temple", or the examination of the Tang Dynasty Yixing Zhushan Dafushan Temple, the Tang Dynasty poet Wang Han, once made "Fushan Temple Kaiyuan Stone Building".
From left to right: the ink seal of the Pure Land Temple of the Tang Dynasty in the National Atlas, and the long ink seal of the Pure Land Temple of the Tang Dynasty in this volume
The development of scripture writing to the Tang Dynasty has reached the peak of art, and this volume is undoubtedly one of the masterpieces; It perfectly shows the artistic height of "Tang Dynasty scriptures", tactful and smooth, round and elegant, fluttering and elegant, making people feel like a spring breeze and rain. The calligraphy of the Tang Dynasty has been a rare rarity since the Ming and Qing dynasties, and it is also a treasure of Chinese art that major museums in the world are competing to collect. It has a high cultural relics edition value and calligraphy art value.
A selection of Buddhist-themed art lots
Important Chinese porcelain and works of art
Lot 2933
Tibet
XVII/XVIII century
Painted Buddha prayer flags
Estimate: HK$700,000-900,000
Source:
Sold at Sotheby's New York, 22 September 2004, lot 57;
于2000年代购于Mandala Gallery
Lot 2932
Qing XVIII century
Brocade ten phases are free, eight auspicious dragon and phoenix pattern Hada
Estimate: HK$600,000-800,000
Lot 2928
Tang Dynasty
Limestone statue of Guanyin
Estimate: HK$600,000-800,000
Source:
Mandala Fine Arts, Hong Kong, early 1990s;
Private Asian Collection
Lot 2927
Sui / Tang
Seated bronze gilt Buddha statue
Estimate: HK$350,000-550,000
Source:
Mandala Fine Arts Ltd.，香港，1999
Lot 2936
Agarwood eighteen bracelets
Estimate: HK$100,000-150,000
Ancient Chinese paintings and calligraphy
Lot 812
clear
Golden Nong
"The Arhat under the Banana"
Ink and color on paper, vertical scroll
127.5 x 40.5 cm.
Painted in 1761
Estimate: HK$600,000-800,000
Source:
Lin Xiongguang (1897-1971) Collection;
Christie's Hong Kong, Ancient Chinese Paintings and Calligraphy, 26 May 2008, lot 1264
Publication:
Appreciation of Famous Paintings of the Past Dynasties - Works of Jin Nong, New World Publishing House, Beijing, October 2014, cover
Lot 809
Ming / Qing
None
"Arhat"
Frame in color on silk
180 x 86.4 cm.
Estimate: HK$200,000-300,000
Lot 810
Ming / Qing
That is, it is not the same
"Ichimotoe"
Ink on paper, vertical scroll
70.5 x 24.5 cm.
Estimate: HK$80,000-120,000
Lot no. 811
clear
Donggao Xinyue
Guanyin
Ink on paper, vertical scroll
67 x 28.5 cm.
Estimate: HK$60,000-80,000
注:
Donggao Xinyue, commonly known as Jiang, a native of Pujiang County, Jinhua Prefecture, Zhejiang, traveled to Japan in the fifteenth year of Kangxi in the Qing Dynasty (1676), can calligraphy and painting, and is good at guqin seal carving, which is the ancestor of Japanese guqin Zhongxing and the ancestor of seal carving, and has a far-reaching influence on Japan.
Lot no. 806
Ming / Qing
That is, it is not the same
"Verses of the Book of Writing"
Ink on paper, vertical scroll
25 x 61.5 cm.
Estimate: HK$60,000-80,000
Lot no. 808
Ming / Qing
For Lin Daopei
"Walking Books"
Ink on paper, vertical scroll
111 x 30.7 cm.
Estimate: HK$50,000-70,000
注:
For Lin Daopei, a monk of Caodong in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, a native of Jian'an, Fujian, with the common surname Ding, 14 years old Zhu Fa, as the heir of Yongjue Yuanxian, after living in Gushan for more than 20 years, he has written a lot.