A LARGE LIMESTONE HEAD OF AVALOKITESHVARA LIAO DYNASTY |

the full rounded face with well carved features, large heavy lidded eyes lowered in meditative attitude below finely arched eyebrows, a socket in the forehead for the urna, gently flattened nose and mouth with full lips, the ears with long pendulous lobes pierced for earrings, the hair drawn beneath the pierced five-leaf diadem carved with floral motifs and the curly hair on the top of the head centred with a ushnisha, wood stand

Sotheby's London, 15th December 1987, lot 40.

Some losses to the carving including the left earlobe, the top of both the very right leaf and the back of the diadem, and the lower end of the sashes that would have originally hung behind each ear. Some characteristic weathering as consistent with age with three tiny holes at the back, and some old weathered chips (including the top back of the right ear) and scattered flakes to the extremities. Minor traces of red pigment to the urna.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

This large and powerfully carved image of Avalokiteshvara, the bodhisattva of compassion, encapsulates the Liao tradition, with its elaborate headdress and detailed floral motifs. Another Liao stone head is illustrated in Perceval Yetts, The George Eumorfopoulos Collection Catalogue of the Chinese and Corean Bronzes, Sculpture, Jades, Jewellery and Miscellaneous Objects, vol. 3, London, 1932, col. pl. LXXII. See also a Liao head from the J.T. Tai collection, sold in these rooms, 29th April 1997, lot 708. A head in the Metropolitan Museum of Art with similar features but a more elaborate crown, is illustrated in Osvald Siren, Chinese Sculpture from the Fifth to Fourteenth Centuries, New York, 1925, vol. IV, pl. 563C. See also an example in the Rietberg Museum, Zurich. In style, the features and headdress of the present lot closely relate to the painted clay sculptures of the Liao dynasty in Lower Huayansi in Datong, Shanxi province, which are dated in accordance with 1038. See Zhongguo meishu quanji: Wudai Song diaosu [The complete series of Chinese art. Five Dynasties and Song sculpture], Beijing, 1988, pls 138-41. A related Liao dynasty gilt-bronze figure with tall crown is illustrated in Denise Patry Leidy and Donna Strahan, Wisdom Embodied: Chinese Buddhist and Daoist Sculpture in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New Haven, 2010, p. 122, no. 26.