NORTHERN QI DYNASTY, INSCRIBED 4TH YEAR OF TIANBO (553)

The stiffness of the pose of this figure, and the arrangement and depiction of the robes and jewelry are typical of Sui dynasty stone sculptures of bodhisattvas. Another bodhisattva of this type (19 in. high), with right hand raised and left hand lowered, sold at Christie's New York, 19 September 2006, lot 138, held an elixir bottle in the left hand. A white marble figure of the bodhisattva Guanyin (15¾ in. high), dated to the Sui dynasty, also wearing a shawl, and a diaphanous dhoti folded over at the waist, which are carved in a manner similar to that of the garments of the present figure, is illustrated by A.L. Juliano et al., in the exhibition catalogue, Buddhist Sculpture from China, China Institute, New York, 2007, p. 85, no. 32. The face of this figure, which was excavated in Xi'an, is broader, and more square than the face of the present figure.