China, the period of the Northern and Southern Dynasties (386 - 589) until to the period of the Liao Dynasty (907 - 1125)Very rare and unusual head made of gray-brown limestone on a wooden base.
Most likely, it is the head of an as yet undetermined bodhisattva, or being, who has given up his personal nirvana in favor of other sentient beings. The bird's head probably represents a mythical phoenix or rooster. In Buddhist iconography, the depiction with an animal head is characteristic, for example, of the TWELVE HEAVENLY GENERALS, Attendants of the healing Buddha. To each of them grows out of the head of one animal head, symbol of a Chinese zodiac and represents one of the twelve directions of the universe. Sindura is often depicted with a rooster's head, associated with the color yellow. Its attributes are a m monk's staff khakkhara or a horsehair fly swatter. But because they are celestial protective warriors (yasha), the expression of the stylization of their faces tends to be stern and menacing, while in this case it is a stylization bearing the characteristics of depictions of Buddhas and bodhisatwas, with slightly narrowed eyes, a mysterious smile and long earlobes. For the sake of completeness, it should be added that this stylization associated with Buddhism was often adopted in Taoist sculpture at the time, and therefore we cannot completely rule out this possibility.
Dimensions of the stone head: 40 x 14 x 20 cm
Overall dimensions with base: 51 x 17 x 22 cm.
Wooden base comes from 20 to 30 years of the 20th century.
Condition: very nice original condition with minor damage
Materials research: Dr. Radek Hanus, Ph.D.
Provenance: originally from a very high quality collection - from a family cooperating with President Tomas Garrigue Masaryk
More pictures:
