PROPERTY FROM A JAPANESE PRIVATE COLLECTION
A GILT-BRONZE FIGURE OF AVALOKITESHVARA, SUI - EARLY TANG DYNASTY
Auction Closed
September 23, 08:35 PM GMT
Estimate
30,000 - 50,000 USD
Lot Details
Description
A GILT-BRONZE FIGURE OF AVALOKITESHVARA
SUI - EARLY TANG DYNASTY
隋至唐初 銅鎏金觀音立像
standing with a slight curve to the hip in a subtle contrapposto, crowned with a large diadem centered by a figure of Amitabha, with sashes, a long necklace, and flowing robes draped about the body, a bottle in the lowered hand, the other raised and holding a willow branch, all raised on a lotus pedestal further supported by a faceted base, an integral tall, peaked, pierced mandorla behind the figure, mounted to a modern base, Japanese wood box (4)
Height 4½ in., 11.2 cm
The iconography of the present figure, bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara with a willow branch, can be linked to the importance placed on the the Dharani Sutra of Invoking Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara to Dissipate and Subdue Poison and Harm (Qing Guanshiyin Pusa xiaofu duhai tuoluoni zhoujing), first translated from Sanskrit to Chinese by Zhu Nanti of the Eastern Jin dynasty, in which Buddha directs ailing disciples to offer Avalokiteshvara willow branches and clean water in order to receive his great mercy.
Compare a similar figure, dated 595, raised on a quadruped stand and holding a cintamani in place of the willow, in the British Museum, London, illustrated in Hugo Munsterberg, Chinese Buddhist Bronzes, Tokyo, 1967, pl. 49. Two other related gilt-bronze figures of Avalokiteshvara with pierced mandorlas and similar bases, both attributed to the Sui period, are illustrated in Saburo Matsubara, Chinese Buddhist Sculpture: A study based on bronze and stone statues other than works from cave temples, Tokyo, 1966, pls 204 e-f. Another related figure, previously in the collection of William L. Parker, was sold in these rooms, 11th May 1978, lot 27.