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.
美国著名拍卖行苏富比一个拍卖名录里出现的一件古代中国佛首，被怀疑是河南洛阳龙门石窟的失窃文物。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.
苏富比表示，经过与雕像拥有者、琼肯家族协商，该佛首被撤出了9月12日苏富比的纽约拍卖会。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".
该佛首石雕高近70厘米，产自唐代，预估价为200万到300万美元。苏富比用“恢弘巨作”来形容这件造型精美的雕像。
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."
在名录中，苏富比将该石雕与包括龙门石窟所藏佛像在内的多座唐代佛像进行了对比，表示“本像嘴唇微噘，属初唐风格”。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.
龙门石窟的一名负责人表示，只是基于照片，他们目前还不能确定苏富比拍卖名录里的佛首是否出自龙门石窟。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.
该负责人称，有大量的佛首于清朝末期和中华民国时期被盗。According to estimates, 600 to 700 Buddha statues in the Longmen Grottoes have been damaged and stolen during the period.
据估计，在此期间，龙门石窟中有600到700尊佛像遭到破坏和盗窃。