Lot Essay
Two related slender standing gilt-bronze figures of this period are published, sharing similar facial features and the same box-like headdresses designed with protruding pelmets along the base. The first from the Nitta Collection, exhibited at the National Palace Museum, Taibei, illustrated in The Crucible of Compassion and Wisdom, p. 195, pl. 99; the second from the University Museum, Philadelphia, illustrated by Munsterberg, Chinese Buddhist Bronzes, Hacker, no. 55.
The unusually tall crown is often seen adorning Avalokitesvara of this period. Its form is probably taken from Liao metalwork; for silver Khitan crown measuring 20.3cm. high, cf. Ebrey, China, Cambridge University Press, 1996, p. 166. See also, a similar seated figure dated to the Liao dynasty in the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in Zhongguo Meishi Quanji, vol. 5, no. 146.
(US$13,000-20,000)
The unusually tall crown is often seen adorning Avalokitesvara of this period. Its form is probably taken from Liao metalwork; for silver Khitan crown measuring 20.3cm. high, cf. Ebrey, China, Cambridge University Press, 1996, p. 166. See also, a similar seated figure dated to the Liao dynasty in the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in Zhongguo Meishi Quanji, vol. 5, no. 146.
(US$13,000-20,000)