LOT Auction Asia  /  No-Reserve AUCTION-ASIA Benefit Sale  / 

175

NUBIAN BLACK Ball Player….

Currency:USD Category:Antiques / Asian Antiques Start Price:12,000.00 USD Estimated At:18,000.00 - 25,000.00 USD
NUBIAN BLACK Ball Player….
Online Auction only, with advance bids accepted at iCollector and at the Gallery. No live bidding
in the Gallery, and tie bids go to the earliest bidder. All proceeds will go 100% to the World Peace Foundation Building Fund of Hadley, MA.
…or Entertainer. He stands tall with a ball in his right hand, ready for…? Was he a Juggler? An Acrobat? An expert at knocking down Milk Cans? Or did he complete against all comers in some unknown ball game? TANG Dynasty, 8th-9th C. AD. It is well recorded that the Tang court imported foreigners for entertainment, and were especially fond of Black people and treated them very well. Some were even used a personal bodyguards, their masters believing since they did not speak the language, the risk of them being involved in a plot or palace intrigues was near zero - so they were trusted more than even some relatives. Since there seems not to be any record of another sculpture from Tang China involving such a person, I believe we have a very special case here....and one we might be able to solve! Note his foreign clothing, the unusual jewelry, and then his hair: Curly, as typical, but sculpted in the manner of Buddhist images. And he stands on a Lotus Base - something usually reserved for Deities or high Religious Figures. And when placed in the tomb of a (surely Buddhist) aristocrat or higher, he would have been intended to be the spiritual companion of the occupant for all eternity. Seems a bit out of the ordinary to me. FACT: Ancient religious leaders were often Magicians or similar. Most of the 300-odd Jewish "Saviour-Prophets" that the Romans crucified in ancient Israel are reputed to have been magic practitioners...doing "miracles" was how they gained credibility. So, is it far-fetched that part of the "act" of our Nubian was to make things like balls disappear? And the only way I can explain the Buddhist attributes that this sculpture brings to us is that this Black man became close friends with his Chinese benefactor, converted to Buddhism, and actually found a way to study it and become somewhat of an expert - so that - in death - he was elevated to a kind of Buddhist Sainthood. This sculpture, in a typical black stone that Emperors and their family preferred for important images, was not something that one did before breakfast! This is an accomplished work by a well-experienced sculptor. Could the subject have just been a simple entertainer that caught the fancy of one of the elite in the Court...who then took the Nubian under his wing? Sure. But this sculpture says to me there was a lot more to it than that. You be the Judge. Provenance since the late 1960s will be provided to the buyer.
Sign In to Bookmark Lot Sign In for Lot Closing Notifications