Page 100 - Sotheby's NYC September 21 2022 Important Chinese Art

This bodhisattva, depicted in the relaxed pose known as
‘royal ease’, with reclining head and slightly bent body, is
also known as ‘Water Moon Guanyin’ (Shuiyue Guanyin).
Rendered with a calm face with eyes half-closed, the
carver of this sculpture skilfully captured the serenity
and peacefulness of the deity. This manifestation of
Avalokiteshvara was thought to reside on an isolated isle
named Potalaka in the mythical South Sea, where the
bodhisattva sat and contemplated the moon’s reflection
in the water. The reflection refers to the illusory and
temporal nature of all phenomena in the human world.
The iconography of the bodhisattva sitting leisurely with
one hand resting on one knee was popular among Chinese
Buddhist statuary of the Song (960-1279), Liao (916-1125)
and Jin (1115-1234) dynasties, particularly between the 11th
and 13th century. The finest sculptural works of the Song
dynasty were carved out of wood and covered with gesso,
pigments and gold. This sculpture, still with extensive traces
of pigments, is one of the well-preserved examples.
The Philadelphia Museum of Art preserves a wood sculpture
of Guanyin (accession no. 1925-99-1) with a figure of similar
size supported on a lower rockwork base. See also a similar-
sized figure with traces of gilding and painting on the body,
sitting atop a pierced rockwork base with swirling waters
below, recently sold in our Hong Kong rooms, 1st April 2019,
lot 3109. Both these figures, although seated in the ‘royal
ease’ posture, sit more upright and straight, making their
poses appear less naturalistic as compared to the present
figure.
A Water Moon Guanyin in the Metropolitan Museum of Art,
New York (accession no. 28.56), seated in a similar posture,
but with a more voluminous body, of larger size, and lacking a
base, was included in the Museum’s exhibition Arts of Ancient
China, New York, 2005, and is illustrated in Hai-wai Yi-chen
(xu) / Chinese Art in Overseas Collections, Buddhist Sculpture
(II), Taipei, 1990, pl. 140.

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