A SMALL GILT-BRONZE FIGURE OF AVALOKITESHVARA CHINA, LIAO DYNASTY

the slender figure standing with each foot on an upturned lotus, wearing long, layered robes, revealing a bare chest adorned with a necklace, the hands clasped against the body, the oval face with finely cast features flanked by pendulous earlobes and ribbons trailing from the back of a tall crown centered by a figure of Amitabha, the back with vestiges of two tabs, all supported on a rectangular waisted plinth

Private Japanese collection.

There is a crack to the end of the trailing ribbon hanging from the left side of the figure's crown. The is wear to the two tabs in the figure's back. There is wear to the tip of the nose and minor nicks along the edges. There appears to be evidence of regilding and wear to the gilding as well as expected surface wear.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

The present figure belongs to a small group of exquisitely modelled Buddhist gilt-bronze sculptures of the Liao dynasty. One characteristic of these figures is their rounded faces and tall crowns festooned with ribbons, similar to those worn by the Khitan rulers. Masterfully executed to capture a dignified and serene quality, the present lot carries the traits of Liao Buddhist statuary.

The Khitan people who lived along the Liao River valley, along the frontiers of the Chinese empire, had been vassals of the Tang dynasty. Through this unstable relationship they had become familiar with Buddhism. They originally practiced animistic shamanism, but according to Frederick W. Mote in Imperial China, 900-1800, Harvard, 2003, p. 82,  within a few decades of the Khitans founding the Liao dynasty, Buddhism had become the most visible religion in their historical records. The Buddhist figures left by the Khitans display a continuation of Tang dynasty styles.

One reason for Buddhism's popularity among the Khitan was the religion's focus on mercy and compassion, as personified by Avalokiteshvara, known in Chinese as Guanyin. The Buddhist teaching that the taking of life was a great evil appealed to warrior societies, whose daily lives were often surrounded by killing and acts of cruelty.

The most important school of Buddhism during the Liao dynasty was the Huayan School whose main center was at Wutai Shan near Datong. The Huayan monastery located in the heart of ancient Datong and still extant, contains large clay bodhisattvas dated to 1038, which relate stylistically to the present lot.

For a seated gilt-bronze example of Avalokiteshvara with a similar tall crown and trailing ribbons in the Rijksmuseum in the Netherlands, see Chinese Art in Overseas Collections (Hai-wai yi-chen), Buddhist Sculpture I, Taipei, 1998, no. 146. A similar standing example which is ascribed a Song dynasty date is illustrated in The Crucible of Compassion and Wisdom, Taipei, 1987, p. 195, pl. 99, and an example from in the collection of the Palace Museum Beijing is illustrated in Denise Patry Leidy and Donna Strahan, Wisdom Embodied: Chinese Buddhist and Daoist Sculpture in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 2010, p. 18. A related Liao dynasty figure of Vairocana is illustrated, ibid, p. 122-123, and a related Liao dynasty standing of Buddha was sold in our Hong Kong rooms, 8th October 2013, lot 3292.