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Lot Essay
This manifestation of Avalokiteshvara represents the "All-Sided One," the bodhisattva who looks in every direction to save all creatures. The figure's multiple arms, with hands either positioned in mudra or grasping attributes, are meant to convey a sense of awe-inspiring power and unlimited capacity for salvation.
Stylistic features of this superbly cast figure conform to a group of gilt-bronze images of seated bodhisattvas produced in Yunnan province in southwestern China during the rule of the Dali Kingdom, from the 10th–13th century. Very similar treatment of the drapery can be seen on two Dali Kingdom gilt-bronze figures of seated Avalokiteshvara dated to the 12th century, illustrated in A Special Exhibition of Recently Acquired Gilt-Bronze Buddhist Images, Taipei, 1996, nos. 16 and 17. These two bodhisattvas also wear foliate necklaces and tassel-hung beaded chains similar to those seen on the present figure. Particularly noteworthy is the similar manner in which the chains lie atop the crossed legs of all three figures and follow the curve of the bent knees. This feature can also be seen on another gilt-bronze seated figure of Avalokiteshvara attributed to the Dali Kingdom and dated 11th–12th century, illustrated by D. Leidy and D. Strahan, Wisdom Embodied: Chinese Buddhist and Daoist Sculpture in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 2010, p. 139, no. 33. The Metropolitan Museum figure is depicted with twenty-four arms and, like the present figure, holds its two primary hands in anjali mudra at its chest, while the remaining hands radiate outward, grasping various attributes, including a half-open lotus, a kundika, and a ring-like object — all of which are likewise held in the hands of the present figure. Similar attributes can also be seen grasped in the hands of a gilt-bronze figure of a forty-two-armed bodhisattva from the Liao dynasty, illustrated by S. Matsubara, Chuugoku bukkyo chokokushi (The Path of Chinese Buddhist Sculpture), vol. 3, Tang, Five Dynasties, Sung and Taoist Sculpture, Tokyo, 1995, fig. 819, and later sold at Christie's New York, 24 March 2004, lot 77.
The graceful cloud-decorated tiara worn by the present figure finds its parallel in the cloud-scroll necklaces of the well-known group of gilt-bronze figures from the Dali Kingdom depicting Acuoye Guanyin, such as two examples dated to the 12th century sold at Christie's New York, 19 September 2007, lot 188, and 24 March 2011, lot 1294.
Stylistic features of this superbly cast figure conform to a group of gilt-bronze images of seated bodhisattvas produced in Yunnan province in southwestern China during the rule of the Dali Kingdom, from the 10th–13th century. Very similar treatment of the drapery can be seen on two Dali Kingdom gilt-bronze figures of seated Avalokiteshvara dated to the 12th century, illustrated in A Special Exhibition of Recently Acquired Gilt-Bronze Buddhist Images, Taipei, 1996, nos. 16 and 17. These two bodhisattvas also wear foliate necklaces and tassel-hung beaded chains similar to those seen on the present figure. Particularly noteworthy is the similar manner in which the chains lie atop the crossed legs of all three figures and follow the curve of the bent knees. This feature can also be seen on another gilt-bronze seated figure of Avalokiteshvara attributed to the Dali Kingdom and dated 11th–12th century, illustrated by D. Leidy and D. Strahan, Wisdom Embodied: Chinese Buddhist and Daoist Sculpture in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 2010, p. 139, no. 33. The Metropolitan Museum figure is depicted with twenty-four arms and, like the present figure, holds its two primary hands in anjali mudra at its chest, while the remaining hands radiate outward, grasping various attributes, including a half-open lotus, a kundika, and a ring-like object — all of which are likewise held in the hands of the present figure. Similar attributes can also be seen grasped in the hands of a gilt-bronze figure of a forty-two-armed bodhisattva from the Liao dynasty, illustrated by S. Matsubara, Chuugoku bukkyo chokokushi (The Path of Chinese Buddhist Sculpture), vol. 3, Tang, Five Dynasties, Sung and Taoist Sculpture, Tokyo, 1995, fig. 819, and later sold at Christie's New York, 24 March 2004, lot 77.
The graceful cloud-decorated tiara worn by the present figure finds its parallel in the cloud-scroll necklaces of the well-known group of gilt-bronze figures from the Dali Kingdom depicting Acuoye Guanyin, such as two examples dated to the 12th century sold at Christie's New York, 19 September 2007, lot 188, and 24 March 2011, lot 1294.