Page 124 - Christie's King St, November 8, 2016

PROPERTY OF A PRIVATE ENGLISH GENTLEMAN
106
A RARE IMPERIAL YELLOW SILK DAMASK PANEL
OF AVALOKITESVARA
YONGLE PERIOD (1403-1424)

The panel is fnely woven in yellow silk to depict Avalokitesvara
as the four-armed Shadakshari Lokeshvara, with the inner arms
in anjalimudra. He is seated on an elaborate throne on top of a
large lotus, set against a ground with clusters of foral sprays.
44 in. x 41Ω in. (111.8 cm. x 105.5 cm.)

£80,000-120,000 $110,000-150,000
€92,000-140,000

This rare woven panel utilises the intricate damask weave
structure and shimmery quality of silk to portray the
bodhisattva in great detail, resulting in a luminous texture
which exemplifes the fnesse of early Ming period religious art.

Shadakshari Lokeshvara is a variant of the bodhisattva of
compassion, Avalokitesvara. As the lord of the six realms
of existence (hell beings, hungry ghosts, animals, humans,
demigods, and gods), his inner hands are held in anjalimudra,
the gesture of adoration.

Compare the present panel to a silk damask hanging, also
depicting Shadakshari Lokeshvara and dated to the early 15th
century, in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum in
New York, illustrated in Defning Yongle: Imperial Art in Early
Fifteenth-Century China, New York, 2003, v. 61, no. 2. This
hanging carries the Sanskrit inscription om mani padme hum,
‘hail to the jewel in the lotus’ (referring to the bodhisattva), and
the Tibetan invocation to the goddess Mahashri. It is very likely
that this panel originally had these inscriptions to the top and
bottom of the bodhisattva, but are now lacking.

明永樂 御製絲綢聖觀自在像
來源:英國私人珍藏

END OF MORNING SESSION