Page 80 - Bonhams Fine Chinese Art London Nov. 2019

Seated in the pose of ‘royal ease’, the deity probably depicts the A similar figure of Guanyin is in the collection of the British Museum,
Water-Moon Guanyin, an iconography derived from Tang dynasty London, and illustrated by Hai-wai yi-chen; Buddhist Sculpture, vol.
paintings. 1, Taipei, 1986; and another similar figure in the Metropolitan Museum
of Art, New York, is illustrated by D.Patry Leidy and D.Strahan,
According to the ‘Lotus Sutra’, Guanyin can take any form necessary Wisdom Embodied, New York, 2010, p.180, no.A44; pl.133. Like the
to save sentient beings, and mentions thirty-three form which the deity present lot, the example in the Metropolitan Museum which is dated
could take, of which seven were female. The figure’s sensual curves Northern Song dynasty, is of almost the same size and has a similar
however, evoke a distinctly feminine feel, and by the Ming dynasty, necklace, armbands, bracelets, attire and facial expression. A similar
Guanyin was usually depicted in a feminine form. wood sculpture of Guanyin is in the Denver Art Museum, illustrated
by D.Jenkins, Masterworks in Wood: China and Japan, New York,
Guanyin images seated in the relaxed position of royal ease are 1976, no.10. See also H.Trubner, The Arts of the T’ang Dynasty, Los
referred to as zizai Guanyin, literally meaning Guanyin at ease. When Angeles, 1957, no.57;and R.L.Thorp and V.Bower, Spirit and Ritual:
such figures are placed in a grotto or seated on a rocky platform, The Morse Collection of Ancient Chinese Art, New York, 1982, no.59.
they reference the Water Moon Guanyin, who sits by the water’s edge
contemplating the reflection of the moon in the water and recognising A similarly-posed wood Guanyin, Song dynasty, was sold at Bonhams
the illusory nature of all phenomena, gently smiles at the humans, who New York, 9 September 2019, lot 853; another wood example of a
grasp for the reflection of the moon mistaking it for reality. seated Guanyin, Song dynasty, was sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, 31
May 2010, lot 1957.

Eskenazi Ltd., Chinese Buddhist Sculpture, London, 1997 (inside front cover);
image courtesy of Eskenazi Ltd., London.

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