A finely cast large gilt-bronze figure of a bodhisattva China, Tang dynasty, 8th Century

standing upon a circular base with left hip thrust slightly outwards in subtle tribhanga, dressed in long skirts and draping scarves while leaving the torso and subtly bulging belly bare, the right hand pendant and grasping a rosary in the elegant elongated fingers, and the left hand bent up to support a globular garlic-mouthed ewer or kundika, the rounded face with chubby features smiling serenely beneath a high spiraling topknot adorned with foliate panel enclosing a jewel and flanked by knotted scarves whose trailing ends cascade to the feet

This figure has a missing section to a scarf hanging by the left leg approximately 2 inches long, and an adjacent scarf with a break near the left knee. The scarf by the right elbow with a break, and a dent by the same wrist. There is expected wear to the gilding, which does not take away from the meticulous detail of the accessories, features and fingers still intact. The back of the head with some encrustation. The plinth attached to the base with a later screw. The color is a slightly deeper yellow than on the catalogue image.
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 casting quality of the figure is characteristic of the 'International Style' of the High Tang period, the pinnacle of sculptural quality, as exemplified by works in sandstone in the Tianlongshan Caves, or in marble and limestone in the Xi'an cosmopolitan area during the eighth and ninth centuries. This style typically combines a certain voluptuousness and confident physicality in the figures and ample sinuous detailing or convincing weight to the drapery, and it is notable that these features translate equally well from the larger works in stone to the portable votive images in bronze.

Compare a standing figure with similar pectoral and knotted scarves to the topknot, in the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, see Hai-Wai Yi-Chen. Chinese Art in Overseas Collections. Buddhist Sculpture 1, Taipei, 1986, no. 107, which retains its original plinth, and also a similar figure with almost identical kundika-vessel, in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, see Hai-Wai Yi-Chen. Chinese Art in Overseas Collections. Buddhist Sculpture II, Taipei, 1990, no. 117. Compare also a smaller bodhisattva figure in the present sale, lot 11.