TANG DYNASTY (618-907)

The massive Buddha hand is exceptionally rare, with its palm facing outward, three fingers extended upward and the other two naturally bent. Though detached from its original statue, the present carving still evokes the grandeur and exquisite craftsmanship of the statue it belonged to.

Compare with a Northern Qi limestone hand of Buddha housed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, collection number: 30.81 (fig. 1); and another limestone hand in the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, illustrated in Chinese Art in Overseas Collections: Buddhist Sculpture, Taipei, 1986, no.44.