Page 24 - Fine Asian Art, Bonhams San Francisco June 27, 2017

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TWO MINIATURE GILT BRONZE BUDDHIST FIGURES
TWO SMALL GILT BRONZE RELIGIOUS FIGURES Tang dynasty
The first, composed of Tang dynasty elements depicting the Daoist The larger figure depicting Guanyin holding a kalasa in his lowered
divinity Laozi, seated with his arms resting on a three-legged arm left hand and traces of a possible chowry in his raised right hand as
rest, the drapery of his robes overhanging a waisted lotus plinth he stands on a lotus bud rising amid tendrils symmetrically issuing
rising from an octagonal base, now attached with solder to a gilt from a conical base that appears to be incomplete, the back of the
metal four-legged stand, the flaming mandorla topped with a seated head cast with a drilled flange to hold a halo that is also no longer
Buddha and originally meant for a Buddhist figure of Guanyin also preserved; the smaller figure holding similar attributes and standing
a later addition to the sculpture; the second a Tang period standing on a waisted lotus flower support rising from remains of a square
figure of Guanyin holding a fly whisk in the raised right hand and a base.
vase in the lowered left hand while standing on a waisted lotus plinth 5 5/8 and 3 3/4in (14.2 and 9.5cm) high
supported on a reticulated four-legged stand, the tenon projecting
from the back of the head meant to hold a now-lost mandorla US$3,000 - 5,000
(losses).
5 3/4 and 4 1/2in (14.5 and 11.5cm) high

US$4,000 - 6,000

An early bronze figure of Laozi from the R. H. Ellsworth Collection,
seated with three-legged arm rest, backed by a leaf-shaped halo
and dated by inscription to 602, was sold in Sotheby’s, New York,
19 March 2002, lot 139 (3 7/8in high). A gilt bronze seated figure of
Laozi, dressed in a different crown but cast with billowing drapery
over a plinth similar to this example, was dated to the early Tang
period, 7th-8th century, and sold in Christie’s, New York, sale 2027,
17 September 2008, lot 391 (6 1/2in high).

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