A STANDING MARBLE AVALOKITESHVARA NORTHERN QI DYNASTY

the deity standing on an inverted lotus base, finely carved in the round with a long robe and trailing scarves and thick beaded garlands crossing at knees, the shawl draping from the shoulders around the forearms and along the hips, set with an elaborate torque on the chest formed from strands of beads intersecting at the waist and a thick knotted necklace suspending a flower rosette, the left arm pendent grasping the neck of an amphora bottle and the right arm turned upward holding a lotus bud, the serene face with small delicate features caught in meditative expression, all framed by a high topknot secured by a diadem centred by a flower rosette and flanking ribbons trailing behind the pendulous earlobes, the reverse of the robe finely detailed with pleated folds fastened by a broad sash, the marble of ivory tone with light brown inclusions

Acquired between the 1950s and 60s.

A seated figure of Avalokitesvara with closely related facial features to the present example, in the Freer Gallery of Art, Washington D.C., is illustrated in Hai-wai yi-chen. Chinese Art in Overseas Collections. Buddhist Sculpture, Taipei, 1986, pl. 47.