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Lot Essay
This finely carved sandalwood image represents a manifestation of Avalokiteshvara identified through its iconographic attributes and closely aligned with a distinctive group of sculptures attributed to the celebrated Tenth Karmapa, Choying Dorje (1604-1674). The bodhisattva stands in samabhanga, a fully upright posture, upon a double lotus pedestal set before an openwork oval aureole. The lotus base is particularly noteworthy, displaying the elongated and elegantly modelled petals characteristic of a sculptural vocabulary associated with Choying Dorje and reflective of his engagement with early Kashmiri and greater Swat Valley metal prototypes. Such archaic stylistic references are among the defining features of the master's highly individual artistic language.
The image is framed by a delicately pierced aureole ornamented with scrolling foliage. Although damaged, the aureole originally terminated in a canopy surmounted by a pair of birds resting amidst the branches of a tree, a motif encountered on several sculptures attributed to Choying Dorje (see von Schroeder, The Tenth Karmapa: Tibet's Greatest Artist, Hong Kong, 2025, pp. 139-155). This distinctive feature, together with the elongated proportions, animated treatment of the drapery, and refined yet highly personal modelling, firmly situates the sculpture within the artistic milieu of the Tenth Karmapa. Compare with the ivory representation in the Cleveland Museum of Art (1968.280).
The present figure bears particularly close comparison to four standing sculptures attributed to Choying Dorje (ibid pp.1142-148 no. S55-S56 and S58-S59), sharing not only compositional similarities but also the same inventive synthesis of Tibetan, Kashmiri, and Chinese artistic traditions. Wood sculptures attributable to Choying Dorje are especially rare. While his artistic oeuvre includes works in a variety of media, surviving wooden carvings are exceedingly uncommon, and examples executed in fragrant sandalwood are rarer still.
The image is framed by a delicately pierced aureole ornamented with scrolling foliage. Although damaged, the aureole originally terminated in a canopy surmounted by a pair of birds resting amidst the branches of a tree, a motif encountered on several sculptures attributed to Choying Dorje (see von Schroeder, The Tenth Karmapa: Tibet's Greatest Artist, Hong Kong, 2025, pp. 139-155). This distinctive feature, together with the elongated proportions, animated treatment of the drapery, and refined yet highly personal modelling, firmly situates the sculpture within the artistic milieu of the Tenth Karmapa. Compare with the ivory representation in the Cleveland Museum of Art (1968.280).
The present figure bears particularly close comparison to four standing sculptures attributed to Choying Dorje (ibid pp.1142-148 no. S55-S56 and S58-S59), sharing not only compositional similarities but also the same inventive synthesis of Tibetan, Kashmiri, and Chinese artistic traditions. Wood sculptures attributable to Choying Dorje are especially rare. While his artistic oeuvre includes works in a variety of media, surviving wooden carvings are exceedingly uncommon, and examples executed in fragrant sandalwood are rarer still.