Page 303 - Sotheby's October 3 2017 Chinese Art

This figure is particularly notable for the exquisite Guanyin is typically depicted as a beautiful female
level of detailing which captures a sense of
the majesty associated with the bodhisattva
Avalokiteshvara. The deity is seated on a lion
with its mouth opened in a vigorous growl,
depicting ‘Guanyin of the Lion Roar’ (Simhanada
Avalokiteshvara): the intense moment of
transcendent enlightenment. Her serene features
convey a sense of profound thought and wisdom
which contrasts with the ferocity of the lion.
Together, the two figures represent an image of
controlled power and harmony.
The craftsman’s remarkable command over
his medium is evident in the engaging sense of
naturalism. Seated in a position of ‘royal ease’,
a sway in the body is captured through the
weight of the body relaxed into her left arm that
rests on a stand while her right arm drapes on
her bent knee. This lyrical sense of movement
is heightened through the flowing ribbons that
flutter across the body. A comparable figure of
smaller size on a lotus petal base, also with traces
of red lacquer and gilding, in the Palace Museum,
Beijing, is illustrated in Classics of the Forbidden
City. Guanyin the Collection of the Palace
Museum, Beijing, 2012, pl. 83. A larger figure of
Guanyin, seated more stiffly on a roaring lion atop
a rocky ledge, was sold in our London rooms,
1st/2nd November 1984, lot 337.
with a warm smile, wearing worldly ornaments
such as a bejewelled headdress, rich necklaces
and strings of pearls. She is a sharp contrast with
the plain, austere images of the Buddha, thus
emphasising her non-ethereal status. It is thought
that anyone who called on the name of Guanyin
during times of distress would be heard and
rescued by her, hence why she is one of the most
worshipped deities in Buddhism.
The earliest textural reference to this rare form
of Avalokitesvara appears in the Sadhanamala
[Garland of Sadhanas], the greatest iconographic
compendium assembled by Abhayakaragupta,
the Indian monk-scholar in the late eleventh
century, where the manifestation is thought to
have had the ability to heal diseases (Denise
Patry Leidy and Donna Strahan, Wisdom
Embodied. Chinese Buddhist and Daoist Sculpture
in The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York,
2010, p. 156).
IMPORTANT CHINESE ART 301