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Lot Essay
Shisou is believed to have been a monk who worked in the late Ming period (c. 1620-1644), but as there is no specific information on him, it is also possible that it is the name of a bronze studio or school. Shisou-marked figures are usually finely cast and extremely graceful.
A Shisou-marked bronze figure of Guanyin dated to the second half seventeenth century in the Clague Collection is identified by R. Mowry, China's Renaissance in Bronze, Phoenix Art Museum, 1993, p. 216, no. 55, as the White-robed Guanyin (Baiyi Guanyin) or Avalokitesvara. Another seated Guanyin with Shisou mark, dated mid-16th to mid-17th century, illustrated in Emperor, Scholar, Artisan, Monk, Sydney L. Moss, Ltd., London, 1984, pp. 280-1, no. 132, is quite similar to the present figure in the shape and exression of the face, the hairdo, the silver-inlaid urna and decoration of the robe borders, as well as its quality of graceful elegance.
A Shisou-marked bronze figure of Guanyin dated to the second half seventeenth century in the Clague Collection is identified by R. Mowry, China's Renaissance in Bronze, Phoenix Art Museum, 1993, p. 216, no. 55, as the White-robed Guanyin (Baiyi Guanyin) or Avalokitesvara. Another seated Guanyin with Shisou mark, dated mid-16th to mid-17th century, illustrated in Emperor, Scholar, Artisan, Monk, Sydney L. Moss, Ltd., London, 1984, pp. 280-1, no. 132, is quite similar to the present figure in the shape and exression of the face, the hairdo, the silver-inlaid urna and decoration of the robe borders, as well as its quality of graceful elegance.