Lot 556
  • 556

A RARE AND IMPRESSIVE PAINTING OF AN ELEVEN-HEADED AND MULTI-ARMED AVALOKITESVARA DATED CHONGZHEN SECOND YEAR, CORRESPONDING TO 1629 |

Estimate
600,000 - 800,000 USD
bidding is closed

Description

  • Disemper on cloth
  • Overall 133  1/2  by 56  1/2  in., 339.1 by 143.5 cm
ink and color on silk, the hanging scroll intricately painted with over three hundred Buddhist and Daoist deities, dignitaries, and devotees organized around a large central figure of Avalokitesvara, the reverent entourage shrouded in scrolling clouds parting along the central vertical axis of the composition revealing a crowned worshipper kneeling in prayer before a large hexagonal lion throne, the lion throne surmounted by lotus blossom supporting the Goddess of Compassion with eleven heads arranged in a pyramidal formation and seated in dhyanasana with one pair of arms holding a kalasha vessel in the lap, another set of arms positioned in anjali mudra at the chest, additional arms radiating around the body holding various instruments, and a further set of arm extending upward and holding a small lotus blossom supporting Amitabha cloaked in a red robe, above Amitabha a further figure seated with its back to the viewer, signed di zi Zhou Bangzhang, dated second year of the Chongzhen reign, ji si (1629), and with one seal of the artist, mounted

Provenance

Yamanaka Shokai, Osaka.
Acquired from the above by a Japanese collector during the Taisho period (1912-1926).
Sotheby's New York, 16th September 2009, lot 130.

Condition

The painting and mount with repair and consolidation to both horizontal and vertical cracks and tears to the painted silk fabric, the widest running the full width of the painting , the longest approx. 15 inches running down one side of Avalokitesvara. There is scattered loss of and wear to the pigments, particularly evident on the inscriptions on several of the blue cartouches which have been worn down. The surface with overall wear, some discoloration (most evident at the top of the mount), minor losses and creases consistent with age and expected rolling and unrolling.
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.

Catalogue Note

Meticulously painted and capturing a lyricism to denote the serenity of the scene, this painting is an exceptionally rare and fine example of late Ming Buddhist painting. It is framed by a painted silk lotus scroll border, in simulation of brocade mounts, and the five-clawed dragons at the top suggest this painting was commissioned not as a gift but for use at the court by the Chongzhen emperor himself.

This painting is a masterpiece of late-Ming esoteric Buddhist painting. This magnificent multi-armed and multi-headed manifestation is one of the most popular forms of the bodhisattva in Tibetan Buddhism and represents the deity as Sahasrabhuja-sahasranetra Avalokitesvara ('with a thousand arms and a thousand eyes'), elegantly rendered in delicate lines and warm tones, surrounded by extended hands that each holds an attribute. The principal hands held before the heart symbolically protect the jewel of enlightenment. The ten additional heads symbolize the steps on the path to Buddhist enlightenment, represented here by the figure of Amitabha Buddha held aloft; Amitabha being the spiritual progenitor of the bodhisattva. Numerous inscribed cartouches throughout the painting identify the characters within the landscape and include the thirty-six revered officials and the twenty-eight lunar mansions.

This painting follows in the Chinese tradition of Buddhist painting, which fused elements of Tibetan, Indian and Chinese imagery and reinterpreted them in a palette reminiscent of that seen on Chinese silk painting. In its style it has its roots in the Tang Dynasty paintings found at Cave 17 at Dunhuang in Gansu province, from the overall composition and color scheme to the billowing clouds and scarves to denote the celestial nature of the figures and inscribed cartouches. Compare a silk painting of Avalokiteshvara in the same eleven-headed form similarly surrounded by a myriad of figures, recovered from Dunhuang and attributed to the early 9th century, now in the British Museum, London, published in W. Zwalf (ed.), Buddhism. Art and Faith, London, 1985, pl. 320.

The eleven-headed form of the popular Avalokitesvara was revered in China from the late Ming dynasty through the Qing and was frequently depicted in various materials; see a large bronze figure attributed to the seventeenth century, from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston, sold twice in these rooms, 16th April 1971, lot 161, and again, 16th September 2009, lot 129; one from the Staatliche Museen PreuBischer Kulturbesitz, Museum für Völkerkunde, Berlin, illustrated in Chinese Art in Overseas Collections: Buddhist Sculpture II, Taipei, 1990, pl. 190; and an imperial thangka, dated to the Qianlong period, in the Palace Museum, Beijing, published in Tangka Paintings in the Collection of the Palace Museum, Beijing, 2010, pl. 164.