力士頭部りきしとうぶ

  • 唐時代
  • 石灰石
  • H-25.5
  • 所蔵
    龍門石窟研究所蔵

石灰石/唐時代/高25.5 cm/龍門石窟研究所蔵
髻 [もとどり]の頂から左半分と鼻先を欠失している。目を怒らせ、口を結ぶ吽形の力士頭部で、寄せた眉の付け根にはへの字状の皺が2条刻まれている。図版24の力士頭部に比べるとずっと均整がとれている。その表現は、図版37の擂[らい]鼓[こ]台[だい]出土の力士像や、天授元年(690)から神龍元年(705)の造営とされる東岸万仏溝北崖の高平郡王洞の力士像と比べても、やや進んでいるように思われることから、恵簡洞洞北の托鉢仏仏龕(563号仏龕)北壁の力士像や、極南洞の力士像の造像に近い8世紀の制作と推定される。

Catalogue Entry

Limestone/ Tang dynasty/ H. 25.5 cm/ Longmen Caves Research Institute
The left half of the topknot and the tip of the nose are missing. This guardian with closed mouth has angry looking eyes, and there are two wrinkle lines of へ shape between the eyebrows. This warrior head with a closed-mouth is much more symmetrical in handling than that of the guardian head exhibited at cat. No. 24. Also, the handling here is somewhat more advanced than either cat. No. 37, the guardian excavated from Leigutai, or the guardian from Gaopingjunwangdong Cave on the north face of the Wanfogou on the East Hill said to have been created between Tianshou 1 (690) and Shenlong 1 (705). The expression on the present guardian is even closer to that found in the guardians, one on the north wall of Niche no. 563 in the Wanfogou on the East Hill and another in the Huijiandong Cave. Thus, it can be surmised that this head was created at the beginning of the 8th century, around the time of the creation of images at the Jinandong Cave.