Lot 1303
1303
A RARE AND UNUSUAL GILT-BRONZE TANTRIC FIGURE OF AVALOKITESVARA
VARIOUS PROPERTIES
A RARE AND UNUSUAL GILT-BRONZE TANTRIC FIGURE OF AVALOKITESVARA

MING DYNASTY, 16TH-17TH CENTURY

Details
A RARE AND UNUSUAL GILT-BRONZE TANTRIC FIGURE OF AVALOKITESVARA
MING DYNASTY, 16TH-17TH CENTURY
Shown seated in dhyanasana with the principal pair of hands in abhiseka mudra and eight further pairs of hands extended and holding various objects, including an axe, phurbu, elixir bottle, wheel of law and lotus flower, dressed in long flowing robes open at the chest to expose an elaborate necklace and waist-tied dhoti, the face cast with serene expression, the elongated earlobes set with jewelled earrings and the hair pulled up into a tall coiffure behind the five-point crown, each tier set with a figure of Sakyamuni Buddha
12¼ in. (31.1 cm.) high
Provenance
Acquired in the 1960s-70s.

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Lot Essay

Compare a similar bronze figure of the eighteen-armed Avalokitesvara from the collection of Warren Cox, illustrated by H. Munsterberg, Chinese Buddhist Bronzes, Japan, 1967, no. 71, where the author notes that the figure exhibits tantric influence and its multiple arms reflect Indian iconography.

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