疑似龍門石窟佛首現身蘇富比拍賣行
The head of an ancient Chinese Buddha statue listed in an auction catalogue of Sotheby's, a prominent auction house in the US, is suspected of being stolen from the Longmen Grottoes in Luoyang, Henan.
美國著名拍賣行蘇富比一個拍賣名錄裏出現的一件古代中國佛首，被懷疑是河南洛陽龍門石窟的失竊文物。Sotheby's said that after a discussion with the sculpture's owner, the Junkunc family, the Buddha head was removed from a Sotheby's New York auction on Sept 12.
蘇富比表示，經過與雕像擁有者、瓊肯家族協商，該佛首被撤出了9月12日蘇富比的紐約拍賣會。The nearly 70-cm-high statue, dating back to the Tang Dynasty (618-907), was expected to fetch between $2 million and $3 million. Sotheby's describes the exquisite sculpture as "magnificent".
該佛首石雕高近70釐米，產自唐代，預估價爲200萬到300萬美元。蘇富比用“恢弘鉅作”來形容這件造型精美的雕像。
In the catalog, Sotheby's compared the statue to a number of Tang dynasty Buddha statues, including those in the Longmen Grottoes, and said, "Its lips are slightly pursed, which is the style of the early Tang dynasty."
在名錄中，蘇富比將該石雕與包括龍門石窟所藏佛像在內的多座唐代佛像進行了對比，表示“本像嘴脣微噘，屬初唐風格”。A person in charge of the Longmen Grottoes said they could not yet conclude whether the Buddha head on Sotheby's auction list is from the Longmen Grottoes only based on photos.
龍門石窟的一名負責人表示，只是基於照片，他們目前還不能確定蘇富比拍賣名錄裏的佛首是否出自龍門石窟。The person said that a large number of Buddha heads were stolen during the late Qing dynasty (1644-1911) and the Republic of China (1912-1949) period.
該負責人稱，有大量的佛首於清朝末期和中華民國時期被盜。According to estimates, 600 to 700 Buddha statues in the Longmen Grottoes have been damaged and stolen during the period.
據估計，在此期間，龍門石窟中有600到700尊佛像遭到破壞和盜竊。
