A RARE LIMESTONE FIGURE OF A BUDDHIST WHITE ELEPHANT, TANG DYNASTY

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A RARE LIMESTONE FIGURE OF A BUDDHIST WHITE ELEPHANT, TANG DYNASTY Published & Exhibited: Searching for Immortality, Weisbrod Chinese Art, 19 September-6 October 2000, p. 40-41, no. 13. Expert’s note Stone figures of elephants are extremely rare, particularly in such a compact format. Its modest proportions indicate that it was created for a domestic Buddhist altar, displayed alongside devotional images of comparable scale. The surviving white slip on the present sculpture identifies the animal as the auspicious white elephant of Buddhist tradition. While the elephant typically served as the mount of Samantabhadra, the absence of a saddle, throne, or other regalia shows that the present sculpture was conceived as an independent image. Its boldly simplified modeling, gently lowered head, and gracefully curling trunk imbue the Buddhist animal with a quiet dignity befitting its sacred character. China, 618-907. Masterfully yet simply carved standing foursquare on a rectangular base, its stout legs terminating in three-toed feet, the long tail gently swaying to the right, the powerfully rendered head slightly lowered, its subtly wrinkled face with small almond-shaped eyes, the curling trunk rests on the ground flanked by two tusks with gently curved tips, and large tucked ears neatly incised to evoke the veins of a lotus leaf. Dimensions: Height 14.6 cm, Length 24.1 cm One of the Seven Treasures of Buddhism, the elephant is frequently depicted bearing floral offerings or as the mount of the ‘All-Gracious’ bodhisattva Samantabhadra, known in China as Puxian. Samantabhadra commonly appears in Buddhist triads alongside Buddha Shakyamuni and opposite the bodhisattva Manjushri, traditionally represented riding a lion, the three figures together embodying strength, wisdom and moral purity. The white elephant is also intimately associated with the birth of Buddha Shakyamuni. According to Buddhist tradition, Queen Maya, the mother of the Buddha, conceived after dreaming of a bodhisattva riding a six-tusked white elephant entering her womb. The white elephant thus came to occupy a particularly sacred place within Buddhist cosmology and is frequently represented with three toes, as in the present example, an allusion to the Three Jewels of Buddhism: the Buddha, the Dharma (the Law) and the Sangha (the monastic community). Auction result comparison: Type: Closely related Auction: Christie’s New York, 19 March 2008, lot 392 Price: USD 241,000 or approx. EUR 326,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing Expert remark: Compare the related modeling, subject, and size (17 cm). Note the different stone.

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