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Lot Essay
This rare figure is a fine example of Tang gilt-bronze sculpture, and displays many characteristics of the period. Willow Guanyin is a very popular subject during the Tang dynasty, and probably gained prominence after the early 8th century. An early example of this iconography is the mural painting of the Willow Guanyin on the west wall in Cave 320 of Dunhuang, in which the deity is depicted holding a willow branch in his right hand, and an ambrosia bottle in his left, just like the present figure. Compare also an example of the Eleven-Headed Avalokitesvara in the Shanghai Museum, illustrated in Saburo Matsubara, Chinese Buddhist Sculpture, Tokyo, 1966, p. 262, pl. a, where the deity holds the willow branch on the left hand, and the bottle on the right. The Shanghai Museum example also has a very similar lotus pedestal and hexagonal base. It is very rare for these figures to retain their original mandorla, and accompanying the current figure is a particularly elaborate example. Compare to the Willow Guanyin in the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, which also has a very ornate mandorla, illustrated in Jin Shen, Haiwai ji Gangtai cang lidai foxiang, Shanxi, 2000, p. 505.