T
he Important Chinese Art auction is a tightly curated assemblage with a focus on fine and rare imperial porcelain and works of art from the Ming and Qing dynasties. The sale will present a fine selection of Yongzheng and Qianlong porcelain, led by an exquisite Yongzheng period famille-rose bowl superbly enamelled with peaches and bats. Other highlights include a magnificent Song dynasty gilt-bronze figure of bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara, an extremely rare Chenghua period yuhuchunping vase delicately painted with lotus blooms, and an outstanding large yellow jade double vase powerfully carved with chilong.
秋
季中國藝術珍品拍賣，欣集華物，明清雅瓷及工藝精品，琳瑯滿目。本場焦點為清雍正粉彩福壽雙全盌，罕有地細繪五桃，飛蝠相伴，尤顯祥瑞。重器且有宋代鎏金銅觀音菩薩坐像，碩大莊嚴，另僅知一例。同場並呈永樂青花輪花綬帶葫蘆扁瓶，溢中東異國風情，添飾串枝花卉，不失傳統柔雅，乃明初經典佳例。
This magnificent gilt-bronze sculpture is extremely rare, and at over 60cm high, of unusually large size. Only one other comparable example is recorded, in the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, from the Avery Brundage collection.
此鎏金銅佛像尺寸碩大，高逾60公分，僅見舊金山亞洲藝術博物館布倫德基舊藏一例與此相類，極為珍罕。
It originates from a period when the image of Avalokiteshvara had not yet turned sweet and feminine, and although the basic facial features suggest a woman’s face, the addition of small curls to indicate beard and moustache are an unmistakeable effort to counterbalance this effect. This way of representing Avalokiteshvara is characteristic of Tang painting created at Dunhuang in Gansu province.
佛容慈祥溫婉，卻又蓄捲曲鬍鬚，既剛且柔。古時女相觀音尚未普及，如甘肅敦煌唐代壁畫和織品也見有蓄鬚之男相觀音。
The present figure is modelled with multiple heads, together with an eye on the forehead and hands, showing a Bodhisattva image popular in the Five Dynasties to the early Northern Song period.
觀音頭上另有三首，主尊額上、掌心，又各具一目，展現五代至北宋初年菩薩造像特徵。
It is highly unusual to find a Bodhisattva figure wearing a dragon-decorated robe, detailed with boneless beasts with the heads almost dissolved into a cloud motif, terminating in three-clawed feet with nails not yet set off at an angle. Similar depiction of dragons can be seen on Song dynasty Dingyao wares.
菩薩身穿龍紋天衣，甚為罕見，所飾龍身柔軟靈巧，龍首幾乎與捲雲融為一體，足上三爪，利趾卻未有張開，形態與同代定窰白瓷上所飾相近。
AN EXTREMELY RARE AND IMPORTANT MASSIVE GILT-BRONZE FIGURE OF BODHISATTVA, AVALOKITESHVARA, SONG DYNASTY
宋 鎏金銅觀音菩薩坐像
Estimate 估價 20,000,000 - 30,000,000 HKD
