Seated Buddha, limestone, with traces of gesso, paint and gilding, North China, possibly 550-577 (Northern Qi dynasty).

Seated Buddha carved in dark grey limestone with traces of red and green pigment. The Buddha has a serene face, closed mouth, and a flat back. His thumbs have broken off. He has a large halo decorated with flora and an inner ring of lotus petals. The folds of the Buddha's robes are inlaid into the stone. He is sitting on a rectangular slab, integral to the sculpture. The Buddha has one hand raised in a gesture of fearlessness (abhaya mudra) and one palm open in a gesture of gift giving (verada mudra).

Purchased with help from Art Fund and private donors

This figure has traces of paint, gesso and gilt. Most sculpture in ancient China is coloured, and it is said that, although much of the techniques have not been handed down, 30 per cent of the work on a sculpture was devoted to carving, and 70 per cent to painting.

This object is included in the Xiangtangshan project, an international initiative based at the University of Chicago (2006) which aims to build up a digital reconstruction of this Northern Qi cave complex.
However, it is not certain that this object did once form part of these caves. Some argue that it is a later piece, (see references).

Katherine Tsiang Mino of the University of Chicago (2007) has expressed the view that this object is of Northern Qi date (550-577 AD) and that its original site was North Xiangtangshan, North Cave.

Others have assigned a later date, but Dr Mino's research into the Xiangtangshan caves was followed when describing the sculpture for the Ho Family Foundation Gallery, 2009.

The simple clothing worn by this Buddha echoes the modest robes worn by the historical Buddha when he reached enlightenment after an intense period of meditation. Behind the figure is an ornate halo or aureole, decorated with flowers and an inner ring of lotus petals. The symmetrical composition of the sculpture intensifies the calmness reflected in the Buddha's face. Traces of red, black and green pigment on the head hint at the brightly coloured surface of the figure in earlier times.

A.4-1924