A fine gilt-bronze figure of Guanyin


Ming Dynasty The standing Goddess of Mercy, holding an ambrosia vase in her left hand and her right in vitarka mudra, with an image of Amitabha Buddha beneath her cowl, wearing an elaborate necklace and long flowing robes tied with a double ribbon and incised on the hem with flowers, leaves and branches, with a celestial scarf draped over her arms, raised on a three-petalled open lotus flower atop a hexagonal stand. 35.5cm (14in) high.
|明 銅鎏金觀世音菩薩立像Provenance: An American private collection, TexasPublished and Illustrated:Marchant, Imperial Chinese Porcelain, Ceramics and Works of Art, London, 2013, pp.100-101, no.47來源：美國得克薩斯州私人舊藏出版及著錄：Marchant，《Imperial Chinese Porcelain, Ceramics and Works of Art》，2013年，頁100-101，編號47Particularly notable for the refined level of detailing, noted in the intricately floral scrolls decorating the hems of the elegant robes and the elaborate jewellery, the remarkable figure conveys a striking visual effect that brilliantly captures a sense of majesty associated with the figure of Avalokiteshvara. According to the Lotus Sutra, Avalokiteshvara took many different manifestations necessary to save the sentient beings. The present form may be identified as Bhaisajyaraja Avalokiteshvara because of the vase held in the left hand, which was believed to contain the elixir that cured all physical and spiritual illnesses, while the right hand would have probably held a stalk of willow leaves as means to sprinkle the potion over to devotees. The present Buddhist figure is inspired by late Tang dynasty figures of bodhisattvas, as exemplified in a figure illustrated by H.Trubner, Arts of the T'ang Dynasty, no.101; and another Tang dynasty example illustrated by Ch'in Hsiao-Yi, The Crucible of Compassion and Wisdom, Taipei, p.183, pl.87.Compare with two related gilt-bronze figures of Guanyin, 17th and 17th/18th century, respectively, illustrated in Chang Foundation, Buddhist Images in Gilt Metal, Taipei, 1993, nos.43 and 47. 觀音面相方圓，耳戴圓珰，鼻直唇秀，雙目微合，神態沉靜端莊。左手持淨瓶，右手上揚持推究手印，頸掛瓔珞，垂落胸前，腰部纏帶，下著束腰長裙，裙邊沿有鏨花，披帛繞臂而出，自然垂於身旁，行雲流水，生動自然。此尊觀音造型優美，鑄造精良，設計上以雙層蓮座下再增加六邊形基座以提升造像莊嚴度及視覺感，頗為難得。漢傳佛教中，觀音可有三十二種化身，此尊觀音右手持淨瓶，可推測或為楊柳觀音或藥王觀音。觀音為中土佛教四大菩薩之一，此式觀音立像有晚唐佛像遺風，既崇尚寫實作風，又突出造像莊重勻稱之美感，參看一件形制類似的唐代晚期鎏金觀音立像，著錄於H.Trubner，《Arts of the T'ang Dynasty》，編號101；另見台北故宮博物院藏一例唐代觀音立像，著錄於《歷代金銅佛造像特展圖錄》，台北，頁183，圖版87。參看鴻禧美術館舊藏一件十七世紀以及另一件十七/十八世紀銅鎏金觀音菩薩立像，兩件均與本拍品有類似之處，見《金銅佛像圖錄》，台北，1993年，編號43及47。