.jpg?w=1)
Lot Essay
The dating of this lot is consistent with the result of a radiocarbon dating measurement test, RCD RadioCarbon Dating, sample no.RCD-7164.
The iconography is based on the Gandavyuha chapter of the Buddhist Avatamasakasutra where Avalokiteshvara or Guanyin resided on Mount Potalaka where the young pilgrim Sudhana visited him. He found Guanyin seated on the rocky shores of the grotto 'Sound of the Waves' contemplating the reflection of the moon in the water. In due course this specific form of Guanyin became better known as water-moon Guanyin.
By the Song dynasty, the God of Compassion had become the most popular of all Buddhist subjects. Especially during the Song and Yuan dynasties, examples in wood were common, as the medium was cheaper and easier to handle than for instance bronze or iron. However wood as material is rather fugitive and as consequence just a limited number of these religious images have come down to us. Clearly, the fact that large wood figures have survived the ravages of men and time is very rare. Most likely the presented Guanyin featured a chapel of a Song temple in China.
The iconography is based on the Gandavyuha chapter of the Buddhist Avatamasakasutra where Avalokiteshvara or Guanyin resided on Mount Potalaka where the young pilgrim Sudhana visited him. He found Guanyin seated on the rocky shores of the grotto 'Sound of the Waves' contemplating the reflection of the moon in the water. In due course this specific form of Guanyin became better known as water-moon Guanyin.
By the Song dynasty, the God of Compassion had become the most popular of all Buddhist subjects. Especially during the Song and Yuan dynasties, examples in wood were common, as the medium was cheaper and easier to handle than for instance bronze or iron. However wood as material is rather fugitive and as consequence just a limited number of these religious images have come down to us. Clearly, the fact that large wood figures have survived the ravages of men and time is very rare. Most likely the presented Guanyin featured a chapel of a Song temple in China.