Arts d'Asie
Arts d'Asie
Collection Particulière Française | 法國私人收藏
Statue de Guanyin en bronze doré Dynastie Ming, XVIIE siècle | 明十七世紀 鎏金銅觀音菩薩坐像 | A large gilt-bronze figure of Guanyin on a lotus base, Ming Dynasty, 17th century
Auction Closed
December 11, 04:16 PM GMT
Estimate
30,000 - 40,000 EUR
Lot Details
Description
Collection Particulière Française
法國私人收藏
Statue de Guanyin en bronze doré Dynastie Ming, XVIIE siècle
明十七世紀 鎏金銅觀音菩薩坐像
A large gilt-bronze figure of Guanyin on a lotus base, Ming Dynasty, 17th century
assise en dhyanasana, les mains en vitarka mudra, la gauche au-dessus de l'aine tenant un bol patra, vêtue d'une ample robe monastique aux bordures finement incisées de motifs floraux, le torse découvert paré de bijoux, le visage charnu en méditation flanqué de longs lobes d'oreilles percés de boucles rondes et surmonté d'une couronne ouvragée abritant une figure miniature du Bouddha Amitabha, assis sur une base associée en bronze doré sphérique lotiforme à neuf rangées de pétales, surmontant une tige émergeant d'un piédestal hexagonal à balustrade ajourée
34,2 cm (55,1 cm avec le socle), 13½ in. (21¾ in. with the base)
34.2 公分（連座 55.1 公分）， 13½英寸 （連座 21¾英寸）
Acquired by the grandparents of the present owner, probably in Germany ca. 1980, and thence by family descent.
現藏家祖父母或於80年代得自德國
後家族承傳至今
This gilt-bronze figure of Guanyin is noticeable for its crisp casting and well preserved mercury gilding. According to the Lotus Sutra, Avalokitesvara can take any form necessary to save sentient beings. Thirty-three manifestations of Avalokitesvara are mentioned and are known to have been very popular in Chinese Buddhism as early as the Sui and Tang Dynasties. The present lot depicts the Bodhisattva in the manifestation known as Bhaisajyaraja Avalokitesvara, known as the ‘Willowleaf’ Guanyin in Chinese. In this form the Bodhisattva holds a vial or bowl of elixir in the left hand and a stalk of willow leaves in the right. The elixir is believed to cure all physical and spiritual illnesses, and this iconographic form was popular among devotees wishing for good health.
Buddhist gilt-bronze figures were produced in China almost from the beginning when Buddhism was embraced by various courts of China’s division after the Han dynasty (206BC – AD220). Until the Tang dynasty (607-906) however they remained very small. One of the earliest developments away from small votive images took place in the Khitan Liao dynasty (907-1125), when sculptures not only became bigger but also developed stylistically towards a more sculptural aesthetic. During the early Ming period the court took complete control of their production and a distinct classic style was devised that were determine the design of all future Chinese Buddhist gilt-bronze images such as the present.
Other related Ming dynasty Guanyin in similar manifestation include an exemple sold in our rooms 10th June 2014, lot 89. Compare also another Ming Guanyin sold our London room, 7th November 2018, lot 66, and a larger Guanyin sold in these rooms, 31st March 2017, lot 108, from the collection of Monsieur Erik le Caruyer de Beauvais.