Page 52 - November 2016 London Bonhams asian Art

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A TANG-STYLE CARVED STONE FIGURE OF A BODHISATTVA A LARGE LACQUERED-WOOD ‘WATER-MOON’ SEATED FIGURE
The figure modelled reclining, wearing long robes, jewellery and a OF GUANYIN
crown. 19th century
39.5cm (15 1/2in) wide The deity delicately carved seated with the right knee raised supporting
her elbow, the left arm rested against rockwork, wearing loose robes
£2,000 - 3,000 opening at the chest to reveal a lotus necklace above a sash tied in a
CNY17,000 - 26,000 HK$20,000 - 30,000 bow at the waist, the plump face and downcast eyes in a meditative
expression, the hair gathered in a top chignon, coated overall with dark
90 red, green and black lacquer. 99cm (39in) high
A LARGE CARVED STONE HEAD OF AN OFFICLAL
Probably Ming Dynasty £1,000 - 1,500
Modelled wearing a tall ‘curling wave’ headdress with ruyi motif to the CNY8,600 - 13,000 HK$10,000 - 15,000
front, carved with parallel ridges running from front to back, the lower
face furrowed and with gently smiling expression, metal stand. Seated in rajalilasana, the ‘pose of royal ease’, this figure represents
33cm (13in) high. (2). the Bodhisattva Guanyin as the ‘Water-Moon Guanyin’. This is an
allusion from the Avatamsaka sutra where Guanyin was described
£2,000 - 3,000 in this pose seated in his Pure Land, or personal paradise, known
CNY17,000 - 26,000 HK$20,000 - 30,000 as Mount Potalaka, meditating on the ethereal and illusory nature
of existence while watching the reflection of the moon in water. See
For similarly modelled heads in cast iron, dated to the Ming dynasty, J.Larson and R.Kerr, Guanyin: A Masterpiece Revealed, London, 1985,
see Chinese, Korean and Japanese Sculpture, The Avery Brundage p.7.
Collection, Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, 1974, pp.312-313,
nos. 165 and 166.

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