Page 102 - Sotheby's London Important Chinese Art Nov. 2019

187
A RARE GILT-BRONZE SEATED FIGURE OF A
DAOIST DEITY
QING DYNASTY, 18TH CENTURY
well-cast, seated with both hands raised in an animated
gesture, dressed in a long fluid robe with finely incised
ruyi scroll borders falling in voluminous folds over the
legs, tied at the waist with a double knot, the well-defined
face with a gentle smile, framed by neatly adorned hair
gathered up in a Daoist lotus cap and a long pointed beard
Height 26.5 cm, 10½ in.
PROVENANCE
Collection of Astrid Ibsen-Sørensen (1892-1987), collected in
China before 1936.
In the family by descent.
This figure most likely depicts one of the Three Purities
(Sanqing), the embodiment of the Dao and the three
highest deities in the Daoist pantheon. The Sanqing
developed from the tripartite division of the celestial
realms and first emerged in the Tang dynasty (618-
907), when attempts were made to group Daoist deities
in a coherent system. The Quanzhen sect (Complete
Realisation sect) of Taoism understood the deities as
representing the Celestial Worthy of Primordial Beginning
(Yuanshi tianzun), the Celestial Worthy of Numinous
Treasure (Lingao tianzu), and the Celestial Worthy of the
Way and Its Power (Daode tianzun). As manifestations
of the Three Energies and rulers of the Three Caverns
(Sandong), they are considered the source of all life and
knowledge, see Stephen Little, Taoism and the Arts of
China, The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, 2002, pp.
229-231.
Gilt-bronze figures of the Sanqing from the Qing dynasty
are unusual, and examples are more commonly known
attributed to the Ming period (1368-1644). Compare for
example a smaller seated figure of deified Laozi, also
identified as the Celestial Worthy of the Way and Its Power,
dated by inscription to 1438, and signed Chen Yanqing
(active 15th century), in the Metropolitan Museum of Art,
New York, included in the Museum’s exhibition Wisdom
Embodied. Chinese Buddhist and Daoist Sculpture in the
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 2010, cat. no. 38,
and sold at Christie’s New York, 21st November 1995, lot
493; another signed Chen Chanqing, sold at Christie’s
London, 10th December 1979, lot 45; and a third, identified
as the Celestial Worthy of Numinous Treasure, and
attributed to the Yuan dynasty (1279-1368), sold twice
at Christie’s Hong Kong, 1st May 2000, lot 751, and 29th
November 2005, lot 1608.

£ 40,000-60,000
HK$ 391,000-590,000 US$ 50,000-75,000
清十八世紀 鎏金銅道教神仙坐像

來源
Astrid Ibsen-Sørensen （1892-1987年）收藏，於1936年
以前購自中國，此後家族傳承

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