227. IMPORTANTE TÊTE D'UN BODHISATTVA EN GRÈS Dynastie des Liao (906-1125)/Jin (1115-1234) A RARE LARGE LIMESTONE HEAD OF A CROWNED BODHISATTVA Liao/Jin Dynasty The rounded face finely carved with downcast eyes below heavy lids, with gently curved brows flanking the broad nose, small bud mouth and double chin, the protruding urna below elaborately shaped symmetrical curls with a central parting at the hairline, secured by a high triple-leafed diadem with cloud collar panels carved with a single lantsa-character set within a flaming Buddhist jewel supported by a lotus against flowerheads and scrolls, the beaded edge set with detached leaf terminals, traces of red pigment, stand. 47cm (18 1/2in) high. (2). 遼/金 石灰岩雕菩薩首 Provenance: Sotheby's London, 30 October 1987, lot 244 Private collection, Vienna 來源： 倫敦蘇富比，1987年10月30日，編號244 維也納私人收藏 A related head with double-tiered crown featuring a lantsa character is in the collection of the Minneapolis Institute of Art, and Robert Jacobsen notes that the use of Tibetan characters was favored by the Khitan Liao, Nurchen Jin, and Mongol Yuan rulers, see Robert Jacobsen, Appreciating China: Gifts from Ruth and Bruce Dayton, Minneapolis, 2002, no.31. Compare also a limestone head of Avalokiteshvara that shows a similar treatment of the facial features, tresses and crown, sold in Sotheby's New York, 16 September 2015, lot 428, and another head wearing a similar diadem centered by an om character, sold in Sotheby's London, 30th October 1987, lot 244. More recently, another closely related limestone head of a bodhisattva was sold in Christie's New York, 25 March 2022, lot 765. Stylistically the features and headdress of the present figure also relate to painted clay sculptures made under the Liao dynasty in Lower Huayansi in Datong, Shanxi province, dated in accordance with 1038, compare Complete Series on Chinese Art. Sculpture: Five Dynasties and Song Sculpture, Beijing, vol. 5, 1988, pls 138-41. The present figure is almost certainly from the same context as two two similarly large limestone heads of bodhisattvas, that were both sold in Dr. Ernst Hauswedell, Hamburg, the first on 16 June 1955, lot 288, the second 15 November 1958, lot 28.