Page 92 - Bonhams Chinese Art NYC Nov 9 2017

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Avalokiteshvara, or Guanyin, as the deity was known in China, A similar blanc-de-Chine figure of Guanyin, Ming dynasty, is illustrated
is the most celebrated Bodhisattva in Buddhism. According to in J.Chapman, The Art of Rhinoceros Horn Carving in China, London,
Buddhist scriptures, such as the Lotus Sutra, anyone reciting the 1999, p.252, pl.364.
name of Avalokiteshvara in times of distress would be heard and
rescued. Guanyin was thus worshipped as the Chinese Goddess A small Dehua figure of a seated monk, Qing dynasty, 17th/18th
of Compassion and Mercy and became a very popular subject for century, with impressed He Chaochun mark, was sold at Christie’s
sculptures and paintings. New York, 19 March 2015, lot 444; and see also another Dehua
figure of Guanyin, Qing dynasty, 17th/18th century, which was sold at
He Chaochun was thought to have been a relative, possibly the Christie’s, Paris, 9 June 2015, lot 113.
younger brother of He Chaozong, working about twenty years later
and on a smaller scale than the celebrated late Ming dynasty Dehua
potter. Displaying a comparable and skillful modelling as He Chaozong,
the present Guanyin is characterised by a highly translucent body and
radiating grace, particularly notable in her elegant hands and the finely
articulated wrists and fingers.

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