Page 71 - Fine Chinese Art Bonhams London May 2018

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TWO STONE FIGURES OF GUANYIN Provenance: An Italian private collection
Liao/Song Dynasty
Both figures seated in dhyanasana, dressed in long flowing robes 來源： 意大利私人收藏
open at the chest revealing a beaded necklace suspended with
multiple tassels and hanging loosely in crisp folds over the edge of a The features characterising the present figures, such as the slender
rectangular pedestal, the serene faces with downcast eyes, traces of bodies and the tall triple-leafed diadems, one centred with a figure of
polychrome pigments; the first figure wearing a high elaborate diadem Amitabha, share similarities with the painted clay statuary modelled
centred with a figure of Amitabha Buddha emerging from blossoming during the Liao dynasty. See for instance, a clay figure of a bodhisattva
lotus, the hands in dhyana mudra holding a bowl with offerings, in the Lower Huansi Temple in Datong, Shanxi Province, dated to 1038
96.5cm (37 6/8in) high; the second figure also wearing a high and illustrated in Zhongguo meishu quanji: Wudai Song diaosu, Beijing,
headdress intricately carved with interlacing scrolls, the hands with 1988, pls.138-141. Crowns constituted one of the most important
hands in vitarka mudra and chest cut with a rectangular niche, traces status symbols to the foreign Khitan founders of the Liao dynasty.
of polychrome pigments remaining, The fact that, during this time, similar crowns were worn by both the
92cm (36 2/8in) high. (2). Buddhist images and the Khitan ruling elites, would seem to reflect
an interchange of roles already common during the Tang dynasty. A
£50,000 - 80,000 related stone head of Guanyin, Liao dynasty, was sold at Sotheby’s
CNY450,000 - 710,000 New York, 16 September 2015, lot 428.

宋/遼 石雕觀音坐像 一組兩尊

For details of the charges payable in addition to the final Hammer Price of each Lot
please refer to paragraphs 7 & 8 of the Notice to Bidders at the back of the catalogue. FINE CHINESE ART | 69