Page 54 - 2020 December 2 Bonhams Arts of Devotion bronzes and Stone carvings

1025
A GILT COPPER ALLOY FIGURE OF ELEVEN-HEADED AVALOKITESHVARA
QING DYNASTY, 18TH CENTURY
Himalayan Art Resources item no.24165
36.7 cm (14 1/2 in.) high

HKD250,000 - 350,000

清 十八世紀 銅鎏金十一面觀音像

Depicted with many faces and arms—able to observe and interact with many
cosmic dimensions—this arresting form of Avalokiteshvara emphasizes the
Bodhisattva of Compassion’s universal reach. The form’s popularity rose to
prominence, alongside cosmic manifestations of other bodhisattvas, during the
Qianlong period, as the Qing empire maximized its own territorial reach.

Many such sculptures were produced in Inner and Outer Mongolia for Vajrayana
temples throughout the Qing empire’s borderlands. The most prominent ateliers
in the region were court appointed workshops at Dolonnor in Inner Mongolia
and the Zanabazar school of Outer Mongolia, who exchanged artistic ideas and
motifs. Features exhibited by this bronze commonly associated with the Dolonnor
style include its necklace of shallow, intricate scrollwork and its large leaf-shaped
earrings. (Compare these elements with a Dolonnor Syamatara sold at Bonhams,
Hong Kong, 2 October 2018, lot 89.) Meanwhile, the sculpture’s base is blessed
with a distinctive upper rim of frilled petals in low relief that echo a style created
by the Zanabazar school. (For example, see a Sitatara published in Berger &
Bartholomew, Mongolia, New York, 1995, p.287, no.102.) The present sculpture’s
many faces are gentler, comparing favorably with a Dolonnor example of the same
subject and scale sold at Bonhams, London, 12 September 2016, lot 8066.

Provenance
Rudi Oriental Arts, New York, 1960s
Collection of Dr. John Mann
Christie’s, New York, 13 September 2016, lot 225

52 | BONHAMS