A magnificent and extremely rare gilt-bronze figure of Padmapani Tang dynasty | 唐 鎏金銅蓮華手觀音坐像

Yamanaka & Co., Inc.

Parke-Bernet Galleries, Inc., New York, 26th May 1944, lot 505. 

Collection of Mrs Alice Spalding Bowen (1890-1981).

Honolulu Museum of Art, Honolulu, 1953-1967. 

Collection of Robert H. Ellsworth, New York, 1967-1972.

Collection of Christian Humann (d.1981), New York, by 1972, named the Pan-Asian Collection by 1977. 

Collection of Robert H. Ellsworth, New York, acquired in 1982. 

Christie's New York, 17th May 2015, lot 15. 

山中商會

紐約帕克．博內藝廊，1944年5月26日，編號505

Alice Spalding Bowen 夫人（1890-1981年）收藏

檀香山藝術博物館，檀香山，1953-1967年

安思遠收藏，紐約，1967-1972年

Christian Humann（1981年卒）收藏，紐約，1972年之前，1977年之前改名為 Pan-Asian 收藏

安思遠收藏，紐約，得於1982年

紐約佳士得2015年5月17日，編號15

Comprehensive Illustrated Catalogue of Chinese Buddhist Statues in Overseas Collection, vol. 5, Beijing, 2005, pl. 910. 

《中國流失海外佛教造像總合圖目》，卷5，北京，2005年，圖版910

This large finely cast figure can be identified as Padmapani, a manifestation of the bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara, by the lotus blossom at the left shoulder. The cult of Padmapani and this distinctive iconography emerged in the late 4th and early 5th century, and continued to be popular in the Tang dynasty. In this manifestation, Avalokitesvara, who is credited with the creation of all things animate and is believed to impersonate the power of creation, is depicted majestically standing against a flaming mandora to display his strength. The bodhisattva is dressed like a prince, adorned with opulent jewellery that serves also to denote his worldliness, as has vowed to remain in the world until all sentient beings have achieved enlightenment.

Depicted seated in lalitasana adorned in sumptuous beaded jewelry with hair pulled into a high-top knot, the sculpture embodies the style of the high Tang period, with its sensitive treatment of the natural curves and flow of the body. This representational mode was influenced by Indian art, and the characteristics include a rounded face, well-modeled cheeks, a subtly sensuous silhouette, and opulent jewelry. Compare a seated bodhisattva in similar posture, illustrated in Saburo Matsubara, Chinese Buddhist Sculpture, Tokyo, 1966, pl. 269. See also a Tang standing figure of a bodhisattva in the collection of Harvard Art Museum, bequest of Grenville L. Winthrop, 1943.53.77, illustrated in Leopold Swergold, Thoughts on Chinese Buddhist Gilt Bronzes, 2014, pl. 27. The Harvard figure is of smaller size, with less naturalistic curves to the form, but with similar treatment of the robes and also with original stone settings now missing. For another Tang gilt-bronze figure of closely related style and of similar high quality, see the example from the collection of Frederick M. Mayer, included in the exhibition Chinese Art, Venice, 1954, cat. no. 265, and sold at Christie's London, 24th/25th June 1974, lot 131.