A RARE INSCRIBED GILT-BRONZE FIGURE OF AVALOKITESHVARA SUI DYNASTY

the seated deity cast atop a stepped faceted lotus throne with both legs pendent and resting on a waisted lotus support centered by a cintamani, the right hand raised and holding a pearl, the other resting on the knee, wearing loosely draped robes secured at the chest, the face cast with a pensive expression below the high chignon secured with a foliate crown below a seated figure of Amitabha Buddha, the head framed by an openwork flame-bordered mandorla affixed on a tab projecting from the back of the head, the reverse inscribed with a fifteen-character inscription, stand (2)

Acquired in Asia, 1968 (by repute).
Christie's New York, 26th March 2010, lot 1299.

There is evident loss to the upper section of the mandorla. The figure has some erosion and two small losses to the base. The resting hand is missing the tip of the thumb and forefinger. There is a small loss to the tip of central element of the diadem. There is wear to the gilt and the surface largely covered with a greenish-gray encrustation. The surface with general wear, light scratches, small scattered nicks all consistent with age.
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.
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The inscription may be translated ‘Disciple Run Ci respectfully made a sculpture of Guanyin as an offering to the altar for eternal life’. Related figures include a figure of Maitreya, also dated to the Sui dynasty but with less elaborate decoration, in the Langen collection, included in the exhibition Buddhisten, Jainas, Hindus. Auf der Suche nach dem Gottesbild, Raustenstrauch-Jost-Museum, Cologne, 2005, cat. no. 43.

Gilt-bronze figures from this period are rare; see a similarly elaborate standing figure, published in Saburo Matsubara, Chugoku bukkyo chokoku shiron, vol. 2, Tokyo, 1995, pl. 592, together with five more simplified figures, pls 588-590; and another, also with an inscription but with an unidentified date, in the Avery Brundage collection, illustrated in René-Yvon Lefebvre d’Argencé, Chinese, Korean and Japanese Sculpture, San Francisco, 1974, pl. 67.

The short Sui dynasty set the stage for and began to set in motion an artistic and cultural renaissance that reached its zenith in the succeeding Tang dynasty (618-907). Characteristics of Sui bronze figures include gently swaying elongated columnar bodies that are adorned in elaborate robes and jewelry. A sense of aristocratic countenance and serene meditative expression, with the slender yet fleshy face, long narrow eyes, sharply curved arched brows which form a harmonious line with the ridge of the nose, as well as the high chignon, encapsulate the classic Avalokitesvara image in the Sui dynasty.