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Hi everyone

came across this blog at my crystal bridge arts and crafts website.

http://www.mycrystalbridge.com/blogs.html#buddha

It's about an antique piece of buddha head made of elephant bone. But it looks like ivory to me. I'm actually interested in buying this piece from the website owner.

Can someone shed some lights if this is actually ivory?

Thanks.


Link :East Han Buddha head made of ivory?

Dear Mr.XL

It's a head of Guanyim with Amita buddha on her Northern Wei style headgear.

Guanyim was first found in the Northern Wei art. You can see Guanyim at Yungang Grottoes constructed in between 460-525 AD during the Northern Wei dynasty...that's the earliest Guanyim...NOT Eastern Han.

Quite a fantasy in that website, why 8 cuts of Han? haven't seen any on that bone.

Your Guanyim could be of the Ming or Qing or a yesterday made, and absolutely not an ivory.

Have fun
Anita



URL Title :History of Guanyim

Thanks a lot for your reply. According to the website, the 8 cuts is referring to the facial features of the smaller buddhas.

It's a technique 1st invented in Han dynasty in jade carving.

Probably not ivory and probably not Eastern Han, in my opinion, and commercial contraband in either case if I'm wrong.

Buddhism barely had its feet on the ground in China by the time of the Eastern Han dynasty. The religion only became sufficiently organized there to impact directly on secular life and create popular demand for personal religious icons like this one in the Tang and later periods. Buddhism had come into full bloom by the Song dynasty, when an ecumenical movement actually reconciled differences between Buddhism, Taoism and Confucianism.

Not that I think the carving is much older than the tea stains on it, but I believe it reflects a style of modeling more in keeping with the canons of Buddha art as they existed after the Tang era.

Happy trails,

Bill H.

Very hard to tell from a picture on he computer screen, but it does NOT look like ivory to me.

Dear XL,

I think you should give it a miss and forget to buy this piece.

- It is not Ivory
- If it is bone, can you imagine the state of the material 2.000 years later! It would be much more deteriorated.
- I don't now of any existing Buddha sculpture dating from the Han dynasty. Buddhism became popular, and sculptures where made, from the years 400 onwards.
- This particular piece does not look much older than a 100 years maximum, if not new.

Good that u didn't bought it yet.

Have a nice day

Dear Mr.XL

I don't know why it made me think of Buddha's finger bone found in 1987 in an underground chamber of Tang Dynasty pagoda.

Could it possibly be this idea applied to forge that Guanyim head?

Have fun
Anita

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