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Lot Essay
The eleven-headed form of the bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara was highly revered from the late Ming dynasty through the Qing dynasty. The current figure is a superb and rare example of this deity rendered in gilt bronze from the Kangxi period, showing a continuation in style from its Yuan and Ming predecessors.
Compare with related eleven-headed, multi-armed figures of Avalokitesvara of the Ming period, all shown seated, one represented with thousand-arms from the Fuller Memorial Collection in the Seattle Art Museum, illustrated by H. Munsterberg, Chinese Buddhist Bronzes, 1967, no. 72; and a twenty-four-armed figure in bronze, sold at Sotheby’s New York, 16 September 2009, lot 129 (fig .1). Compare also to a fourty-eight-armed figure dated to the Qing dynasty in the Staatliche Museen Preußischer Kulturbesitz, Ethnologisches Museum, museum number: 37174; and a seven-headed twenty-four-armed giltbronze figure dated to 16th-17th century in the Chang Foundation, illustrated by James Spencer, Buddhist Images in Gilt Metal, Taipei, 1993, pp. 86-87, no. 36.
According to the inscription incised on the back side of the lotus base, the present figure was commissioned by Lady Gao of the Jin family, which may have been the family of Jin Fu (1633-1692), who was an important Kangxi-period official noted for his accomplishment in river engineering.
Compare with related eleven-headed, multi-armed figures of Avalokitesvara of the Ming period, all shown seated, one represented with thousand-arms from the Fuller Memorial Collection in the Seattle Art Museum, illustrated by H. Munsterberg, Chinese Buddhist Bronzes, 1967, no. 72; and a twenty-four-armed figure in bronze, sold at Sotheby’s New York, 16 September 2009, lot 129 (fig .1). Compare also to a fourty-eight-armed figure dated to the Qing dynasty in the Staatliche Museen Preußischer Kulturbesitz, Ethnologisches Museum, museum number: 37174; and a seven-headed twenty-four-armed giltbronze figure dated to 16th-17th century in the Chang Foundation, illustrated by James Spencer, Buddhist Images in Gilt Metal, Taipei, 1993, pp. 86-87, no. 36.
According to the inscription incised on the back side of the lotus base, the present figure was commissioned by Lady Gao of the Jin family, which may have been the family of Jin Fu (1633-1692), who was an important Kangxi-period official noted for his accomplishment in river engineering.