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227 WT
A WOOD STANDING FIGURE OF GUANYIN
Ming Dynasty or earlier
The figure carved standing on rockwork, wearing a
loose flowing robe falling in graceful folds, open at
the chest to reveal a flower necklace, the right hand
in vitarka mudra, the left holding a slender-necked
vase, the hair gathered in a high chignon behind a
foliate tiara centred with a small figure of Amitabha
seated on a lotus-form base.
107cm (42 1/8in) high

£30,000 - 50,000
HK$330,000 - 550,000
CNY280,000 - 460,000

明或更早 木胎彩繪灑水觀音立像

The result of a radiocarbon dating measurement
test, RCD Lockinge Radiocarbon Dating
Measurement Report, sample no.RCD-8528,
states 95% confidence interval for AD674 to
AD780 (69.6%) and AD788 to AD875 (25.8%).

Venerated in Indian Buddhism as embodiment of
the Compassion of the Buddha, Avalokitesvara
was incorporated in the Chinese beliefs concerning
the rebirth in the Pure Land of Amithaba from at
least the 1st-2nd century AD. In this context, the
deity effected the spiritual rebirth of the devotees
in the blissful land, the ideal atmosphere leading to
peaceful nurturing and enlightenment. According
to the ‘Lotus Sutra’, Guanyin assumed a number
of different guises, which formed the basis of the
bodhisattva’s iconography. This representation of
Guanyin holding a vase containing the holy water
that revived the thirst of the devotees, appears to
have been popular since at least the Tang dynasty.

A comparable example, carved in stone and
dated to the Tang dynasty, is in the collection of
the Victoria and Albert Museum, no.A.216-1946;
another, cast in bronze and also dated to the Tang
dynasty, is included in the collection of the Harvard
University Museum, and illustrated in Chinese
Sculptures, New Haven, 2006, p.312.

FINE CHINESE ART | 237