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171
A RARE BRONZE GROUP OF ‘WATER MOON’ 宋至元 銅水月觀音像
GUANYIN, SONG - YUAN DYNASTY
Height 7⅜ in., 18.6 cm (2) 來源
藍理捷，紐約，2012年5月24日
PROVENANCE
J.J. Lally & Co., New York, 24th May 2012.
The present ‘Water Moon’ pose is derived from a passage in
the Avatamsaka Sutra (Huayan or ‘Flower Garland’ Sutra),
in which the youth Sudhana encounters the bodhisattva
Guanyin reclining on a boulder surrounded by lush bamboo
groves. This depiction is typical of the finest Song dynasty
representations of Guanyin but extremely rare in its rendering
of a surrounding rockwork grove.
Compare a large Jin dynasty polychrome wood figure in the
same pose, dated by inscription corresponding to 1168 CE,
with the figure leaning on their left elbow atop a rocky outcrop,
now in the Yale University Art Gallery Collection (accession no.
1956.39.1); a Song dynasty bronze figure of comparable size,
also retaining its grotto stand, sold in these rooms, 15th March
2017, lot 542; and another, also set within a grotto, sold in our
London rooms, 7th June 1988, lot 35.
$ 30,000-50,000

170 SOTHEBY’S COMPLETE CATALOGUING AVAILABLE AT SOTHEBYS.COM/N11744 A COLLECTING JOURNEY: THE JANE AND LEOPOLD SWERGOLD COLLECTION 171