隋 銅鎏金觀音立像 |

北魏座銘文：太昌元年二月十八日姚治明上為亡祖父母敬造觀世音像一區供養

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見正常磨損及輕微鑄造瑕疵，與其品類相符，包括：背光及人物處見細微缺失（如左膝一小處及背光邊沿一道裂紋）、底座見一道裂紋及相應細小缺失、以及鎏金見磨損及包漿不勻（如圖錄所示）。背光鬆動。背光正面些許包漿經加固。
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The S-curved posture, detached mandorla, elaborate ornamentation, and ribbony garments that cling to the body express the new visual vocabulary for Buddhist statuary that developed in the Sui dynasty (581-618). Both Emperor Wen (r. 581-604) and Emperor Yang (r. 604-618) used Buddhism as a means of unifying the empire and they avidly patronized the construction of Buddhist temples, pagodas, grottoes, and sculptures. Emperor Wen was particularly devout due to his upbringing in a monastery. He is alleged to have commissioned 4,000 temples and over 100,000 new images in gilt-bronze, ivory, wood, and stone, and restored over 1.5 million damaged figures. Two gilt-bronze figures of Avalokiteshvara dated by inscription to his reign bear a strong resemblance to the present example. The most strikingly similar one is inscribed to the base with a date corresponding to 586 A.D. and is published in Jintong fo xiang [Gilt-Bronze Buddhist Figures], Beijing, 1998, pl. 7. The second, in the collection of the British Museum, depicts the bodhisattva holding a jewel in one hand and a bottle in the other and is dated by inscription to 595 A.D. and published in Hugo Munsterberg, Chinese Buddhist Bronzes, Rutland, VT and Tokyo, 1967, pl. 59.

The stand of the present figure is inscribed with a dedication and date, corresponding to the 18th day of the 2nd month of the first year of Taichang, corresponding to 532 A.D. Taichang (Great Prosperity) is the first reign name of the Northern Wei Emperor Xiaowu's rule (r. 532-535). The Taichang period started on 12th April 532 and lasted only a few months before the reign was renamed as Yongxing (Eternal Flourishing), a title which lasted through the end of Xiaowu's reign.