Page 10 - Christie's, Important Chinese Works of Art, Hong Kong Dec 3 2021

THE PROPERTY OF AN ASIAN COLLECTOR
亞洲私人珍藏
2906

A GILT-DECORATED AND
ENAMELLED FIGURE OF
AVALOKITESVARA
QING DYNASTY, 18TH-19TH CENTURY
The figure is well-modelled kneeling on a circular lotus
petal base with both hands raised in front of the chest
bejewelled with long tasselled necklaces, the lower body
and the shoulders are covered in loose robes decorated
with dragon roundels, birds and scrolling tendrils. The
rounded face has a graceful smiling expression below the
large crown, covered overall in a brownish-red, gilt and
light blue enamel.
11æ in. (29.8 cm.) high
HK$150,000-250,000 US$20,000-32,000
The present figure with its arms raised in a gesture of
offering is extremely rare amongst Buddhist images of
the Qing period. It appears the inspiration of this unusual
posture is modelled after gilt bronze originals from the
Xuande period in the Ming dynasty, where it might have
been copied from earlier Tang dynasty figures. Compare the
present figure with a kneeling figure holding the arms in the
same pose of offering and dated to the Xuande period from
the Collection of Berti Ashmann Foundation, now in the
collection of the Museum Rietberg, Zurich, illustrated in On
the Path to Enlightenment, 1995, p. 122, no. 72.
A nearly identical figure dated to the Qianlong period is
illustrated by I. L. Legeza, A Descriptive and Illustrated
Catalogue of the Malcolm MacDonald Collection of Chinese
Ceramics in the Gulbenkian Museum of Oriental Art and
Archaeology, London, 1972, p. 79, no. 384. A group of
three related polychrome and gilt decorated figures of
Shakyamuni from the 18th century, each with their hands
held in different mudras, are in the collection of the National
Palace Museum, Taipei, illustrated in Monarchy and its
Buddhist Way: Tibetan-Buddhist Ritual Implements, National
Palace Museum, Taipei, 1999, no. 23
Compare to a very similarly decorated figure with the same
gesture, sold at Christie’s New York, 22-23 March 2012,
lot 2124. Another kneeing figure of Avalokitesvara with the
same decoration was sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, 29 April
2002, lot 539.

清十八 / 十九世紀 爐鈞釉加金彩供養菩薩像

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