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Actions Displays	Details Remove from selection Add to selection CollectionChinese Collection Object numberNU50054-0 TitleCarving in Black Soap-Stone DescriptionBLACK SOAP-STONE carving of a plump infant in the nude sitting cross-legged on a lotus bloom with two-tier petals, in plan roughly conforming to the outline of the infant's seat; an enormous lock-shaped pendant slung from the infant's short neck on his back, a wisp of hair in front of an otherwise clean-shaven head, bangles on his wrists and ankles, all typical of a Chinese infant's make-up, his hands clutching something like a lotus leaf or bud to his bosom; the whole statue sitting in the middle of a square plinth of 2.5 cm thick with canted corners; the flat top of the plinth being filled within a narrow plain border, with light carvings in the form of a fringe of stylized lotus petals immediately surrounding the lotus flower seat and beyond it a ground of freehand design of lotus blooms, star-shaped blooms and bees, all superbly executed. Remarks: Possibly lid of a "sheli" casket for holding Buddha's relics, usually symbolic only. There is a striking resemblance of this carving to an episode in a painting of the Tang period called "Paradise of Sakyamuni with Episodes from the Bao'en Sutra" now in the British Museum, in which there are depicted an episode of "new-born soul on lotus flower" on either side in the lower portion of the painting, with an infant sitting on a lotus bloom and floating on a lotus. Production placeCraft Object categoryMiscellaneous MaterialStone Dimensions H: 12.5 cm L: 24 cm W: 24 cm

Object numberNU50054-0

TitleCarving in Black Soap-Stone

DescriptionBLACK SOAP-STONE carving of a plump infant in the nude sitting cross-legged on a lotus bloom with two-tier petals, in plan roughly conforming to the outline of the infant's seat; an enormous lock-shaped pendant slung from the infant's short neck on his back, a wisp of hair in front of an otherwise clean-shaven head, bangles on his wrists and ankles, all typical of a Chinese infant's make-up, his hands clutching something like a lotus leaf or bud to his bosom; the whole statue sitting in the middle of a square plinth of 2.5 cm thick with canted corners; the flat top of the plinth being filled within a narrow plain border, with light carvings in the form of a fringe of stylized lotus petals immediately surrounding the lotus flower seat and beyond it a ground of freehand design of lotus blooms, star-shaped blooms and bees, all superbly executed. Remarks: Possibly lid of a "sheli" casket for holding Buddha's relics, usually symbolic only. There is a striking resemblance of this carving to an episode in a painting of the Tang period called "Paradise of Sakyamuni with Episodes from the Bao'en Sutra" now in the British Museum, in which there are depicted an episode of "new-born soul on lotus flower" on either side in the lower portion of the painting, with an infant sitting on a lotus bloom and floating on a lotus.

Production placeCraft

Object categoryMiscellaneous

MaterialStone

Dimensions

H: 12.5 cm
L: 24 cm
W: 24 cm

Details