A CARVED LIMESTONE FIGURE OF A STANDING AVALOKITESVARA TANG DYNASTY |

of Longmen style, sensitively portrayed standing in tribhanga on a lotus base and holding in the left hand a vial of elixir, the elegant figure depicted dressed in loose robes cascading in folds over the knees and adorned with ornamental jewellery, the serene countenance surmounted by an elaborate topknot, mounted on a marble stand

Collection of S.H. Hoo, New York, prior to 1963.
Collection of Fong Chow (1923-2012).
Christie's New York, 24th March 2011, lot 1301. 

The refined carving of the facial features, the high elaborate chignon and very earthly quality of this Bodhisattva relate to several examples from the Longmen caves, some more fragmentary than the current example, which is particularly well preserved; one is in the Avery Brundage Collection, illustrated in Chinese, Korean and Japanese Sculpture, Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, Japan, 1974, p. 222, no. 110. Other related sculptures are illustrated in Longmen liusan diaoxiang ji, Shanghai, 1993, pls. 72, 77 and 79.   Fong Chow (1923-2012), worked at the Metropolitan Museum of Art for 25 years. As a curator, he was responsible for the installation of two Chinese Buddhist sculpture galleries, an area in which he had particular expertise.