Page 72 - Christies IMportant Chinese Art Sept 26 2020 NYC

Fig. 2 Gilt-bronze figure of Acuoye Guanyin, Yunnan, Fig. 3 Gilt-bronze figure of seated Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara (Guanyin), probably
Dali Kingdom, 12th century. Sold Christie’s New York, from Yunnan province, Dali Kingdom, AD 937-1253 or later. Appropriation Fund
20 March 2019, lot 813. no. 18.266. Courtesy of RISD Museum, Providence, RI.

By the Qing dynasty (1644-1911), the geographical area of the ancient Guanyin dating to the 17th-18th century -- one dated to the Qianlong
Dali Kingdom was under the control of Beijing. As a newly established period, from the collection of the Palace Museum, Beijing, now in the
dynasty, the Qing, who were themselves Manchus and not of Han Luoyang Museum, and the very similar figure in the Museum of Art,
Chinese descent, relied on the discipline and support of other foreign Rhode Island School of Design (accession no. 18.266), dated 10th-
ethnic groups for their dominance of China proper. In the pursuit of 13th century or later, but likely contemporaneous with the Beijing
this goal, the Manchus propagated and heavily patronized Tibetan- Palace example -- speak to a revival of this particular Buddhist deity
style Buddhism, which appealed directly to the peoples of Tibet and in the early Qing period. (Fig. 3) Both of these figures depict Acouye
Mongolia, and many gilt-bronze figures attest to the adoption of Guanyin seated in rajalilasana (royal ease) wearing a jeweled necklace
Tibetan-style Buddhism at the Qing Court. Tibetan-style Buddhism and arm bands and a dhoti secured by a knotted sash, in keeping
also appears to have found at least some favor in Yunnan, as with the style of the 10th-13th century prototypes. The interest in the
evidenced by an unpublished gilt-bronze figure of Amitayus dated to arts of the past during the early Qing period is well known in many
the 18th century in the Potala Palace, Tibet, which is inscribed Lijiang categories of Chinese art, including the area of Buddhist sculpture.
tu si zao (Made for the Chiefdom of Lijiang), Lijiang being a city in For another example of such archaism in Buddhist sculpture, see
northwest Yunnan. the 7th-8th century Kashmiri bronze figure of Buddha in the Qing
Court Collection, illustrated in Classics of the Forbidden City: Tibetan
While the present figure appears to possibly be unique in its Buddhist Sculptures, Beijing, 2009, p. 118, no. 53, and an almost
combination of Dali-Kingdom imagery and early- to mid-Qing, Tibeto- identical 18th-century Chinese imitation of the same work, illustrated
Chinese Buddhist style, two further gilt-bronze figures of Acuoye ibid., p. 128, no. 63.