A fragmentary stone hand of a bodhisattva, estimated at just HK$100,000, became the surprise sensation of Sotheby’s Hong Kong spring sales after collectors linked it to the Xiangtangshan caves, one of China’s most important imperial Buddhist cave-temple sites.
The nearly 1,500-year-old Northern Qi fragment was offered in Sotheby’s single-owner sale dedicated to the Kansai dealer Hata Mineo, which brought together 51 works of early Chinese art on 5 May. Graceful as it was, the lot carried only a modest estimate and appeared in the catalogue without a firm site attribution or lot essay.
On the eve of the auction, however, news of its Xiangtangshan origin began circulating among collectors. Bidding opened at HK$220,000 after absentee interest and drew a flurry of some 45 bids before the hammer fell at HK$9.5 million – 95 times its low estimate – to a phone bidder represented by Nicolas Chow, Sotheby’s Asia chairman.
With fees, the price came to HK$12.16 million (US$1.6 million), making it one of the top lots of this season’s Asian Art Week in Hong Kong.
Lot 342 | A stone fragment of a bodhisattva's hand
Northern Qi dynasty (550-577 CE)
Height: 26.5 cm
Provenance:
- Yamanaka Shunkodo, Osaka, by 1930
Estimate: HK$100,000 - 200,000
Hammer Price: HK$9,500,000
Sold: HK$12,160,000
A short-lived regime that ruled from 550 to 577 CE, the Northern Qi dynasty is often remembered for political instability and near-constant warfare. Yet it was also a period in which the arts flourished in a highly multicultural environment, with Chinese and non-Chinese aristocrats, officials, monks, craftsmen and foreign traders all playing a part in the religious and cultural life of the time.
One of the dynasty’s greatest artistic achievements was the cave-temple complex of Xiangtangshan, near present-day Handan in Hebei province and close to the Northern Qi capital. Created with the support of the royal family and high-ranking officials, and with the involvement of Buddhist monks active around the capital, it became a major site for stone sculpture and inscriptions.
Its sculptures are often described as a bridge between the Northern Wei and Tang styles. Compared with the leaner, more elongated forms of Northern Wei Buddhist art, Xiangtangshan figures tend to have broader shoulders, fuller bodies and rounder faces. Their robes also fall more closely against the body, bringing out the contours beneath.
Carvers achieved this effect by combining crisper, more linear cuts with softer, rounded modelling, giving the bodies a stronger sense of weight and presence and making the folds of the drapery appear fuller and more tactile.
Xiangtangshan Caves is one of China’s most important royal Buddhist cave-temple sites
The Xiangtangshan complex is spread across three main areas: the Northern Caves, the Southern Caves, and a smaller outlying group at Shuiyusi, also known as “Little Xiangtang.” Across the complex, around 30 caves survive, with more than 450 carved niches and some 4,300 sculptures.
The Northern Caves make up the grandest, imperially sponsored part of the site and include three main grottoes: the North Cave, or Great Buddha Cave; the Middle Cave, also known as the Śākyamuni Cave; and the South Cave, known for its extensive engravings of Buddhist scriptures. Some scholars have suggested that the arrangement of these main caves corresponds to the Buddhist idea of the “three times”: past, present and future.
According to black-and-white photographs and field notes, the Sotheby’s stone hand is believed to have come from a bodhisattva in the South Cave. The ring-shaped object held in the hand is thought to be the handle of a hanging incense pouch.
South Cave, Northern Xiangtangshan; the original position of the present lot circled in red
The present lot is recorded as the hand of a bodhisattva holding an incense pouch from the South Cave
Over the past century, the Xiangtangshan caves have suffered severe damage. Many sculptures were defaced or removed, and fragments such as Buddha heads and bodhisattva hands have since been dispersed to collections around the world.
In Hong Kong, Tsz Shan Monastery’s Buddhist Art Museum holds a pair of stone hands from the Middle Cave of Northern Xiangtangshan. Old photographs show that they belonged to a figure of Mahākāśyapa, one of Śākyamuni Buddha’s ten principal disciples.
Mahākāśyapa is an important figure in Buddhist tradition. Known for his ascetic practice, he was entrusted by the Buddha with preserving and transmitting the Dharma. After the Buddha’s death, he became head of the monastic community and is said to have convened the First Buddhist Council at Rājagṛha.
The hands, reportedly valued in the seven‑figure range in Hong Kong dollars, are singled out by the monastery for their refinement. As the museum notes: "Although fragmented, this work is amazingly realistic. The left hand with palm up is holding a reliquary, while the fingers of the right hand are pressing against the lid. Both hands are soft and fleshy, as if boneless. The fingers are nimble, and the curvature of each finger differs. It is worth noting that the carver did not illustrate the knuckles, but rather, greatly emphasising the softness and texture of the hands. The fingernails are also finely represented. The hands look fleshy but not chubby; the gesture natural and lively. Overall, the carver’s superb artistry is well demonstrated."
Hands of a Disciple | Northern Qi dynasty | Collection of Tsz Shan Monastery Buddhist Art Museum
A present-day view of the South Cave, Northern Xiangtangshan
Exterior of the South Cave, Northern Xiangtangshan
The stone hand was part of Sotheby’s MINEO HATA – A Life in Art: Early Buddhist and Ancient Art sale, devoted to the Kansai dealer’s collection of early Buddhist and ancient works. All 51 lots were sold, achieving a total of HK$68.87 million (US$8.8 million), with many pieces bringing multiples of their estimates.
Another highlight of the sale was a Northern Wei seated Buddha, which also drew strong competition. Estimated at HK$800,000, it hammered for HK$15 million, 18.7 times its low estimate, and sold for HK$19.2 million with fees. The winning bid was placed by a client on the phone with Carrie Li, Sotheby's Senior Director and Deputy Chairman of Chinese Works of Art, Asia, paddle number 6888.
Lot 311 | A rare large inscribed gilt-bronze votive figure of Shakyamuni Buddha
Northern Wei dynasty, dated 2nd year of the Yongping period, corresponding to 509 CE
Height: 33.8 cm
Provenance:
- A Kyoto private collection, 1950s-1960s
Estimate: HK$800,000 - 1,600,000
Hammer Price: HK$15,000,000
Sold; HK$19,200,000
The collector Mineo Hata belongs to the postwar baby-boom generation in Japan. He grew up during the country’s transition from an agricultural to an industrial and commercial economy. After graduation, he moved to Tokyo and worked for a medical equipment trading company, going door to door to clinics as a salesman.
It was during this period that he developed a passion for antiques and began collecting. In the 1970s, he resigned from his job and entered the art trade, and by the 1980s he had opened his own gallery, Hata Kobijutsu, on Oimatsu-cho, Osaka’s antique district. As his business expanded, he opened a second space near his home in Kobe.
In 2008, Hata consigned a Southern Song Longquan celadon kinuta mallet-shaped vase with dragon-fish handles to Christie’s in New York. Formerly in the collection of the late Edo-period daimyō Matsudaira Fumai, it carried an estimate of US$800,000 and sold for US$2.28 million after fierce bidding. From then on, Hata became a familiar name in the international auction scene.
Mineo Hata (left)
Other Highlight Lots:
Lot 313 | A large four-sided stone Buddhist stele
Northern Qi dynasty (550-577 CE)
Height: 52.5 cm
Estimate: HK$50,000 - 100,000
Hammer Price: HK$2,800,000
Sold: HK$3,584,000
Lot 316 | A small gilt-bronze seated figure of Shakyamuni Buddha
Sixteen Kingdoms (304-439 CE)
Height: 13.2 cm
Estimate: HK$300,000 - 600,000
Hammer Price: HK$1,600,000
Sold: HK$2,048,000
Lot 322 | A massive inscribed stone votive stele with Buddhist triad
Northern Wei dynasty, dated yiwei year, corresponding to most likely 515 CE
Height: 97 cm
Estimate: HK$200,000 - 400,000
Hammer Price: HK$1,600,000
Sold: HK$2,048,000
Lot 348 | A rare bronze kneeling figure of a Yue tribesman
Eastern Zhou dynasty, Spring and Autumn period (circa 771-256 BCE)
Height: 9.2 cm
Estimate: HK$100,000 - 200,000
Hammer Price: HK$1,500,000
Sold: HK$1,920,000
Lot 328 | A large stone standing figure of a bodhisattva
Tang dynasty (618-907 CE)
Height: 68.5 cm
Estimate: HK$150,000 - 300,000
Hammer Price: HK$1,400,000
Sold: HK$1,792,000
Lot 307 | A four-sided stone Buddhist stele
Northern Wei dynasty (386-534/535 CE)
Height: 29.5 cm
Provenance:
- Collection of Yamaguchi Kenshiro (1886-1957), Kobe
Estimate: HK$100,000 - 200,000
Hammer Price: HK$1,300,000
Sold: HK$1,664,000
Lot 332 | A stone figure of Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara
Song dynasty (960-1279)
Height: 25 cm
Estimate: HK$50,000 - 100,000
Hammer Price: HK$1,300,000
Sold: HK$1,664,000
Lot 331 | A large inscribed stone votive stele with Buddhist triad
Tang dynasty, dated 3rd year of the Yonghui period, corresponding to 652 CE
Height: 49.5 cm
Provenance:
- Collection of Yamaguchi Kenshiro (1886-1957), Kobe
Estimate: HK$100,000 - 200,000
Hammer Price: HK$1,200,000
Sold: HK$1,536,000
Lot 315 | A stone stele with Buddhist triad
Northern Zhou dynasty (557-581 CE)
Height: 23.8 cm
Provenance:
- Collection of Yamaguchi Kenshiro (1886-1957), Kobe
Estimate: HK$50,000 - 100,000
Hammer Price: HK$1,100,000
Sold: HK$1,408,000
Lot 325 | A stone seated figure of Buddha
Northern Wei dynasty (386-534 CE)
Height: 30.7 cm
Estimate: HK$50,000 - 100,000
Hammer Price: HK$950,000
Sold: HK$1,216,000
Lot 318 | A standing figure of a bodhisattva
Northern Zhou (557-581 CE)- Sui dynasty (581-618 CE)
Height: 30.5 cm
Estimate: HK$50,000 - 100,000
Hammer Price: HK$900,000
Sold: HK$1,152,000
Lot 336 | A stone relief fragment of a seated figure
Tang dynasty (618-907 CE)
Height: 41.5 cm
Estimate: HK$50,000 - 100,000
Hammer Price: HK$850,000
Sold: HK$1,088,000
Auction Details:
Auction House: Sotheby's Hong Kong
Sale: MINEO HATA – A Life in Art: Early Buddhist and Ancient Art
Date: 5 May 2026
Number of Lots: 51
Sold: 51
Sale Rate: 100%
Sale Total: HK$68,870,400 (US$8.8 million)