Page 10 - Christie's Hong Kong May 31, 2017 Fine Buddhist Works of Art

2803 Continued

This rare figure is a fine example of Tang gilt-bronze sculpture,
and displays many characteristics of the period. Willow Guanyin
is a very popular subject during the Tang dynasty, and probably
gained prominence after the early 8th century. An early example
of this iconography is the mural painting of the Willow Guanyin
on the west wall in Cave 320 of Dunhuang, in which the deity
is depicted holding a willow branch in his right hand, and an
ambrosia bottle in his left, just like the present figure. Compare
also an example of the Eleven-Headed Avalokitesvara in the
Shanghai Museum, illustrated in Saburo Matsubara, Chinese
Buddhist Sculpture, Tokyo, 1966, p. 262, pl. a, where the deity
holds the willow branch on the left hand, and the bottle on the
right. The Shanghai Museum example also has a very similar
lotus pedestal and hexagonal base. It is very rare for these figures
to retain their original mandorla, and accompanying the current
figure is a particularly elaborate example. Compare to the
Willow Guanyin in the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco,
which also has a very ornate mandorla, illustrated in Jin Shen,
Haiwai ji Gangtai cang lidai foxiang, Shanxi, 2000, p. 505.
觀音立於蓮花台座上，下承一六方開光底托。三彎站姿，右手持楊
柳枝，左手下垂持甘露瓶。頸戴項鍊，腕穿手鐲，下身裹裙，肩上
披綵，髮束高髻，中有一阿彌陀佛像。背光富麗堂皇，上有二鳥相
對，頂有阿彌陀佛立像。
此像為盛唐時金銅造像的精品，曾兩次於日本受邀重要的展覽，可
見前人對它的重視。楊柳觀音是唐朝非常受喜愛的造像題材，大約
於八世紀初開始被信徒廣泛供奉。敦煌莫高窟320窟的西壁就畫有一
尊楊柳觀音，是這種題材的一個早期例子。與本尊一樣，壁畫上的
觀音也是右手持楊柳，左手拿甘露瓶。另外上海博物館有一件鎏金
銅十一面觀音，則是右手拿甘露瓶，左手持楊柳，著錄於松原三郎
的《中囯仏教彫刻史研究》，東京，1966年，頁262，圖版a。上海
的例子與本尊有非常類似的蓮花座和六方底托。此類銅像的背光保
存下來的很少，且本尊的背光富麗堂皇，非常難得。試比較舊金山
亞洲藝術博物館的一件楊柳觀音立像，其背光也非常精美完整，著
錄於金申編《海外及港台藏歷代佛像》，山西，2000年，頁505。

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