A FINE LARGE GILT-BRONZE FIGURE OF AVALOKITESVARA

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A FINE LARGE GILT-BRONZE FIGURE OF AVALOKITESVARA
13TH/14TH CENTURY

The finely cast figure seated in rajalilasana, with right hand resting on a raised knee and left hand in varada mudra, the hair partially tied in a top knot with two strands falling on each shoulder and crowned with a headdress accommodating a small seated figure of Amitabha, the round face with a gentle expression, eyes downcast, the pendulous ears with exaggerated lobes, ornate beaded jewellery flanking the torso, similarly decorated beneath each knee, wearing a long shawl across the shoulders with floating scarves
15 1/4 in. (38.7 cm.) high, wood stand, box

Lot Essay

For a similar gilt-bronze seated figure from the Oppenheim Bequest now in the British Museum, see W. Zwalf (Ed.), Buddhism Art and Faith, p. 207, no. 298, where the author notes this particular seated position is a variant of rajalilasana (royal ease) and was a popular sculptural formula between the 10th-14th centuries.

Another closely related seated figure with similar floating celestial scarves from the Asian Art Museum of San Franciso, dated to the Yuan/early Ming period, is illustrated in Hai-Wai Yi-Chen, Chinese Art in Overseas Collections, Buddhist Sculpture, no. 164.

(US$180,000-200,000)

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