Page 127 - 2020 Sept Important Chinese Art Sotheby's NYC Asia Week

9/2/2020 Important Chinese Art | Sotheby's

Impo rtant Chinese Art
New York |23 Sep 2020 | 09:00 AM EDT

Lot 583

A GILT-BRONZE FIGURE OF AVALOKITESHVARA , SUI DYNASTY
Estimate: 40,000 - 60,000 USD

A GILT-BRONZE FIGURE OF AVALOKITESHVARA
SUI DYNASTY
隋 銅鎏金觀音立像

standing upright with a slight curve to the hips, the neat coiffure kept with a pointed diadem centered by a diminutive figure of
Amitabha and issuing long sashes on either side, the body adorned with a long necklace and draped garments, a cintamani jewel
resting in the proper left hand, with crisply cast bare feet set on a lotus pedestal further raised on a hexagonal base, a pierced
circular mandorla affixed to the back of the head, modern stand, Japanese wood box (5)

Height 4½ in., 11.5 cm

Catalogue Note
The unifying but brief Sui dynasty (581-618) set the stage for an artistic and cultural renaissance that reached its zenith in the
succeeding Tang dynasty (618-907). Characteristics of Sui period bronze figures of bodhisattvas include subtly swaying,
elongated columnar bodies that are adorned in elaborate robes and jewelry. The artisan of the present figure employed the subtle
contrapostto positioning of the body, elegant body proportions, a separate mandorla, and a lotus base, elements that developed
further during the Tang dynasty.

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