Page 66 - Bonhams Presencer Buddhist Art Collection Oct. 2 2018

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A COPPER ALLOY FIGURE OF GUANYIN
SUI/TANG DYNASTY, CIRCA 7TH CENTURY
With traces of gilding.
Himalayan Art Resources item no.61666
18.5 cm (7 1/2 in.) high

HK$80,000 - 120,000
隋朝/唐朝 約七世紀 觀音銅像

The bodhisattva of compassion, Avalokiteshvara, is the most widely
worshipped Mahayana bodhisattva and one of the earliest to appear in
Buddhist literature. His cult was introduced to China in the first century
CE, where his name was translated as Guanyin, “Perceiver of Sounds”.

This elegant sculpture from the Sui or Early Tang dynasty depicts
Avalokiteshvara as a slender celestial being, prominently clad in
luxurious garments. He likely once held a willow branch, a symbol of
healing, while a vase of heavenly dew, bestowing long-life, remains in
his right hand. Typical of the 7th-century style, his face is rounded with
lightly raised eyebrows and elongated eyes.

Compare with a Sui-dynasty standing bodhisattva held in the Eisei
Bunko Museum (Hsing, Encyclopedia of Buddhist Arts, Kaohsiung,
2013, p.1116). Also compare similar lotus pedestal and figure with a
Guanyin published in Munsterberg, Chinese Buddhist Bronzes, New
York, 1988, p.86, no.47. Such depictions of Guanyin with a sinuous
pose and elegant streams of garments find precedent in woodblock
prints dating to the Five Dynasties, found in Cave 17 at Dunhuang
(Zwalf, Buddhism: Art and Faith, London, 1985, pp.226-7, nos.330
and 334).

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