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Lot Essay
The present example comes from an exceptional group of related bronzes made by the Imperial workshops on the instructions of Chengzu, the Yongle Emperor. Their very high quality and characteristic style was in part a legacy of the Nepalese craftsmen brough to the imperial workshops during the Yuan dynasty, and in part due to the close links established with Tibet by the Yongle emperor. Yongle frequently invited Tibetan lamas to Nanjing, and specificially asked the Karma-pa lama, Deshin Shekpa, to perform funeral rites of salvation for his parents. Gifts of the highest quality were sent to Tibet and were also presented to Tibetan lamas when they visited the Chinese court.
The group is discussed by Sheila C. Bills in Bronze Sculptures of the Early Ming (1403-1450), Arts of Asia, September-October 1994, vol. 24, no. 5, pp. 73-87. She illustrates an almost identical example of Potalaka Guanyin in the same pose, cover and p. 80, no. 12. The author notes the Nepalese traits including the 'gull-winged brows over narrowed eyes, high-bridged nose and rounded chin', concluding that 'a Nepalese artist of distinction was at work in the Imperial atelier.'
The author also points out the unusual occurence, manifest in the present example, of the lotus stems rising from the base rather than from brackets attached to the arms.
Similar example is the Shanghai Museum, and another is illustrated, Osvald Siren, A History of Early Chinese Art: Sculpture, 3, Pl. 120, fig. C
The group is discussed by Sheila C. Bills in Bronze Sculptures of the Early Ming (1403-1450), Arts of Asia, September-October 1994, vol. 24, no. 5, pp. 73-87. She illustrates an almost identical example of Potalaka Guanyin in the same pose, cover and p. 80, no. 12. The author notes the Nepalese traits including the 'gull-winged brows over narrowed eyes, high-bridged nose and rounded chin', concluding that 'a Nepalese artist of distinction was at work in the Imperial atelier.'
The author also points out the unusual occurence, manifest in the present example, of the lotus stems rising from the base rather than from brackets attached to the arms.
Similar example is the Shanghai Museum, and another is illustrated, Osvald Siren, A History of Early Chinese Art: Sculpture, 3, Pl. 120, fig. C