A rare bronze group of 'Water moon' Guanyin, Song - Yuan dynasty

J.J. Lally & Co., New York, 24th May 2012.

The present 'Water Moon' pose is derived from a passage in the Avatamsaka Sutra (Huayan or 'Flower Garland' Sutra), in which the youth Sudhana encounters the bodhisattva Guanyin reclining on a boulder surrounded by lush bamboo groves. This depiction is typical of the finest Song dynasty representations of Guanyin but extremely rare in its rendering of a surrounding rockwork grove.

Compare a large Jin dynasty polychrome wood figure in the same pose, dated by inscription corresponding to 1168 CE, with the figure leaning on their left elbow atop a rocky outcrop, now in the Yale University Art Gallery Collection (accession no. 1956.39.1); a Song dynasty bronze figure of comparable size, also retaining its grotto stand, sold in these rooms, 15th March 2017, lot 542; and another, also set within a grotto, sold in our London rooms, 7th June 1988, lot 35.