China, Northern Qi dynasty, 550 - 577
Height: 40 1/2 inches, 103 cm

A limestone torso of a Bodhisattva, the figure is draped in layered diaphanous robes that are tied into knots in the centre, the outer robe is secured with a circular ornament. The robes fall into elaborate pleats at the hem and on the shoulders. The bodhisattva is further adorned with a long necklace, consisting of round and oblong beads, which is held together at the front with a jewelled circular ornament from which another strand of pearls ending in a tassel is suspended. The back of the sculpture has more stylised carving, showing the simple vertical pleats of the skirt. Some traces of the pigments and gilding that originally covered the torso remain, particularly to some of the areas of high-relief carving.

This magnificent torso with its crisply carved jewelled decoration and beautifully detailed draped clothing is stylistically closely related to statues and fragments found in the hoard of sculpture unearthed in 1996 at the site of the Longxing Temple at Qingzhou in Shandong province, part of which was exhibited in Zürich in 2002.1 The statues found in Qingzhou can be confidently dated from the end of the Northern Wei period in the 520s to the Northern Qi dynasty (550 - 577 AD). Typical features of Northern Qi sculpture are long necklaces with large bosses on either side of the chest and robes that have soft folds. The copious amount of jewellery indicates that this is a depiction of a Bodhisattva (person aspiring to be the Buddha) rather than the Buddha, as the latter is more often than not soberly dressed. Traces of pigments and gold leaf indicate that the sculpture was originally brightly coloured, a practice that appears to have been common in the 6th century. Gold leaf would have been used to cover the areas of exposed skin. The torso is also carved at the back, albeit in a more rudimentary fashion, which suggests that it was probably originally placed in a temple and only meant to be seen from the front by worshippers.2

1 - Nickel, L. (ed.) The Return of the Buddha, Buddhist Sculptures of the 6th Century from Qingzhou, China Museum Rietberg, Zürich, 2002, nos. 28 – 31, pp. 192 - 203
2 - op. cit. p. 71-2