Page 25 - CHRISTIE'S Buddhist Art Japanese Collections 09/14/17

The inscription may be translated, `Hu Pan’s wife made this fgure of Buddha seated on a lotus, all beneath a large canopy. Stylistically, these two
Guanyin, praying for the safety of her family’, and is dated 17th day, 12th votive shrines correspond to others of Northern Wei date, also with fame-
month, 5th year of Zhengguang (AD 524). shaped aureole, and with the fgure often, but not always, holding a lotus
stem in one hand, but more usually with the other hand holding either the
The fgure and the aureole of this votive shrine are very similar to another scarf or holding the hand in varada mudra. Two slightly earlier examples of
Northern Wei example, similarly inscribed on two sides of the base with a this type of gilt-bronze shrine, depicting the bodhisattva holding a lotus stem
dated inscription, corresponding to AD 513, sold at Christie’s New York, 20 as well as an end of the scarf, are illustrated by H. Munsterberg, Chinese
March 2014, lot 1603. (Fig. 1) As with the current example, the fgure also Buddhist Bronzes, Vermont/Tokyo, 1967, pls. 40 and 41, the frst, in the
holds a lotus stem in the right hand, but rather than holding one end of the British Museum, is dated to AD 471, the second, in the Seattle Art Museum,
scarf in the left hand, the bodhisattva holds a pendent kundika. Also unlike is dated to AD 485. Bodhisattvas holding a lotus stem are also identifed as
the current fgure, the reverse of the aureole is cast with fve images of Padmapani, the lotus-bearing manifestation of Avalokiteshvara.

Fig. 1 Gilt-bronze fgure of Guanyin, Northern Wei dynasty (AD 386-534), with dated inscription corresponding
to AD 513, sold at Christie’s New York, 20 March 2014, lot 1603.

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