SONG-YUAN DYNASTY (AD 960-1368)

This stucco sculpture of a bodhisattva was made with clay and lime combined with a binding material applied over a wood core, before finely being colored with mineral pigments. Buddhist stucco figures were popular from the Tang dynasty onwards, and many spectacular examples have been found in temples in Shanxi province, known for its vast quantity of Buddhist monasteries. Because of Shanxi province’s dry climate, wood and stucco sculptures were more easily preserved and there are still examples preserved from the earlier dynasties and many extant well-preserved examples of Buddhist stucco figures, particularly from the Ming and Qing dynasties. Compare the Song dynasty painted stucco bodhisattva illustrated in Shanxi foujiao caisu (Buddhist Sculpture of Shanxi Province), Beijing, 1991, pl. 77 and 78, which has similarly rendered facial features and robes to those of the present figure. This figure has remarkably well-preserved pigments and still retains the design on its elaborate floral-patterned robes.