Jing Wen
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Lot 58
DEUX STATUETTES D'AMITAYUS ET AVALOKITESHVARA EN ALLIAGE DE CUIVRE DORÉ INCRUSTÉ DE PERLES DYNASTIE QING, PÉRIODE KANGXI (1662-1722)
14 – 15 June 2022, 14:00 CEST
Paris, Rue de la PaixSold for €31,875 inc. premium
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DEUX STATUETTES D'AMITAYUS ET AVALOKITESHVARA EN ALLIAGE DE CUIVRE DORÉ INCRUSTÉ DE PERLES
DYNASTIE QING, PÉRIODE KANGXI (1662-1722)
The two sculptures with a red lacquer storage box bearing a painted inscription reading, '喇嘛教仏像 貳軀 (lamajiao foxiang erqu)', translated, 'Lamaist Sculptures, Two Pieces.'
Himalayan Art Resources item no. 4864
10.2 cm (4 in.) high, the larger
The two sculptures with a red lacquer storage box bearing a painted inscription reading, '喇嘛教仏像 貳軀 (lamajiao foxiang erqu)', translated, 'Lamaist Sculptures, Two Pieces.'
Himalayan Art Resources item no. 4864
10.2 cm (4 in.) high, the larger
Footnotes
TWO GILT COPPER ALLOY AND INSET PEARL FIGURES OF AMITAYUS AND AVALOKITESHVARA
QING DYNASTY, KANGXI PERIOD (1662-1722)
清 康熙（1662-1722年）銅鎏金嵌珍珠無量壽佛及觀音菩薩像
Provenance:
With Claude de Marteau, Brussels, by 1970s
Avalokiteshvara, the Bodhisattva of Infinite Compassion, is seated with one leg raised in an attitude of royal ease (lalitasana) while Amitayus, the Buddha of Infinite Life, is cross-legged (dhyanasana) and holds the elixir of immortality in his lap. Given that Amitayus, in his Amitabha Buddha form, is the spiritual sire of Avalokiteshvara, these two refined sculptures were at the very least created as part of the same group, if not intended as a pair. Both feature rare pearl settings, suggesting an imperial commission.
The style of these two bronzes is consistent with images from the Kangxi period (1662-1722), whose facial features are generally softer and more slender than later 18th-century images from the Qing dynasty. For examples of other images with similar features seated on flat-petaled lotus bases, see an image of Amitayus sold at Christie's, Paris, 13 June 2018, lot 207. Also, see two images of Avalokiteshvara, one in the Yale University Art Gallery (2019.66.1), and the other sold at Nagel Auktionen, Stuttgart, 30 October 2015, lot 172.