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View full screen - View 1 of Lot 46. A rare carved and polychrome wood statue of Avalokiteshvara Song-Jin dynasty | 宋至金 木雕加彩觀世音菩薩坐像.

Property from a private European collection | 歐洲私人收藏

A rare carved and polychrome wood statue of Avalokiteshvara Song-Jin dynasty | 宋至金 木雕加彩觀世音菩薩坐像

Auction Closed

December 9, 03:41 PM GMT

Estimate

150,000 - 250,000 EUR

Lot Details

Description

Property from a private European collection

A rare carved and polychrome wood statue of Avalokiteshvara

Song-Jin dynasty


the deity, elegantly seated in rājalīlāsana

on a rocky pedestal, gracefully resting the right arm on the raised right knee, the left arm by her side to support her weight, the classic poise accentuated with a sash draped around the shoulder and across the bejewelled bare torso, above a loose dhoti elegantly cascading in folds from the waist across the legs and over the plinth, with the left foot partly exposed and facing upwards, the elongated face with downcast bow-shaped eyes set in a meditative expression, the finely combed hair parted at the center and swept up in a high chignon secured by a crown set with the Amitabha Buddha, with ample traces of original stucco and polychrome pigment, inventory number 44142 and label R2.36 at the rear of the base

62 x 40 x 28 cm, 24⅜ by 15¾ by 11 in.

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Collection particulière européenne

Rare statue d'Avalokiteshvara en bois sculpté polychrome, dynastie Song-Jin

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歐洲私人收藏

宋至金 木雕加彩觀世音菩薩坐像

Eskenazi Ltd., London, 9th October 1980, ref. 8584.

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埃斯肯納齊有限公司,1980年10月9日,參考號8584


Wooden sculptures of the Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara, which experienced a peak of popularity in and shortly after the Song period, are among the most enchanting Chinese sculptures. The present figure exemplifies the aesthetic sensitivity of this period, when the deity, despite being depicted genderless, was radiating feminine grace. Without losing anything of their divine aura, sculptures of Buddhist deities in this period acquired a more approachable presence, and sculptors were able to display the excellence of their craft in rendering emotions through features and poses. Song wooden sculptures can be counted among the finest Chinese sculptures ever produced.

The Bodhisattva, known in Sanskrit as Avalokiteshvara (literally ‘the Lord who looks down upon sound'), or in Chinese as Guanyin (literally ‘perceiving sound, cries') is here represented as Guanyin of the Southern Seas, also known as the Water-Moon (shui yue) Guanyin. As the Bodhisattva of Compassion and Mercy, Avalokiteshvara became popular as the deity answering prayers and protecting the faithful from catastrophe.

The figure is seated in rājalīlāsanaWoo (‘the posture of royal ease’) on a craggy rock formation representing Potalaka, an island in the southern sea considered as the deity's Pure Land, in China identified with Mount Putuo, an island off the east coast province of Zhejiang. The posture, with right arm resting on folded right knee, is highly dynamic, the tautness of the posture implying that any moment the Bodhisattva, though so serene and meditative, might awake from deep contemplation and step down. The iconography of Avalokiteshvara sitting leisurely with one hand resting on rockwork was widely found among Chinese Buddhist statuary of the Song (960-1279), Liao (916-1125) and Jin (1115-1234) dynasties, particularly from the 11th to the 13th century.

One of the most famous Water-Moon Guanyin figures is the monumental sculpture in the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, Missouri, which sits, similarly attired and in a similar pose, but with one leg pending, on a rockwork plinth, see, for example, Angela Falco Howard et al., Chinese Sculpture, New Haven & London, 2006, pl. 4.27. Another comparable wooden Water-Moon Avalokiteshvara, but also of larger size, is in the Minneapolis Museum of Art, accession no. 99.24.2 (https://collections.artsmia.org/art/32122/avalokiteshvara-bodhisattva-in-the-water-moon-form-china).

Compare also a polychrome wood sculpture of Avalokiteshvara of similar size, attributed to the Liao dynasty, formerly in the collections of Martin Erdmann and F. Brodie Lodge, sold at Sotheby’s London, 7th June 1988, lot 48 and again at Christie’s Hong Kong, 30th May 2018, lot 2858, now in the collection of the Tsz Shan Museum, Hong Kong, accession no. 2018.08.

木雕觀世音菩薩像,在中國雕塑中出類拔萃,莊嚴靈動,趙宋年間盛極一時,爾後續有小興。菩薩雖為中性,此像姿容卻是那麼柔雅,展露女性的溫婉秀逸,體現當朝造像的細緻美感。這時期的佛教造像傾向採用較平易可親之貌,匠人以絕技巧工,透過輪廓姿勢的雕刻,表達菩薩的思緒神韻,卻不減佛相莊嚴,無怪宋代木刻造像在中國雕塑中名列前矛,誠當中典範。

南海菩薩,又稱水月觀音,觀聽人間眾音,渡苦救難,慈悲為懷。若念聖號,誠心祈求,便可離苦得樂、免於災厄,是以觀音菩薩廣受敬仰膜拜。

菩薩採自在姿,坐石巖之上,象徵傳說中觀世音菩薩的南海道場普陀洛迦山,有信即中國浙江以東島嶼普陀山。菩薩凝神入定,一臂輕擱右膝,靜中見動,彷彿菩薩隨時便會從冥想中回過神來,步下臺座。一手閑置石臺之觀音坐像,在中國宋代佛教造像已見普及,遼金兩代續興,尤其是十一至十三世紀之間。

美國密蘇里州堪薩斯城納爾遜.阿特金斯藝術博物館藏水月觀音像,甚是著名,菩薩衣飾與此像相類,同是巖石臺上採自在坐,惟一足下垂,見 Angela Falco Howard 等,《Chinese Sculpture》,紐黑文及倫敦,2006年,圖版4.27。另可對比明尼阿波利斯藝術博物館藏木雕水月觀音坐像,然尺寸同樣略大,編號99.24.2(https://collections.artsmia.org/art/32122/avalokiteshvara-bodhisattva-in-the-water-moon-form-china)。

參考體積相近的彩繪木雕觀世音,但斷為遼代時造,曾屬 Martin Erdmann 和 F. Brodie Lodge 的藏蓄,先後售於倫敦蘇富比1988年6月7日,編號48,及香港佳士得2018年5月30日,編號2858,現為香港慈山寺博物館藏品,編號2018.08。