A Japanese Gilt Wood Figure of Kannon Bosatsu, Heian Period, 11th Century

Heian Period, 11th Century

The elegant, tall figure dressed in flowing robes with sashes; the left arm extended with closed fist and the right arm lowered with palm open; the serene face with narrow eyes and meditative aura, below high-sculpted arched eyebrows continuing from the straight nose and full sculpted lips, below the hair arranged in sections and piled into a tall chignon; retaining significant traces of gold leaf and black lacquer; single-block construction (ichiboku-zukuri); with later metal stand.
Note:
Kannon is the Japanese name for Avalokiteshvara, the bodhisattva of compassion, a highly esteemed deity in Japanese Buddhism.
A similar, taller Heian period carved cypress standing figure of the Bodhisattva Kannon, now stripped of all lacquer, pigments and gold leaf, is on view at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in Gallery 224, Purchase, Bequest of Mary Stillman Harkness.

Height of Figure 21 1/2 in., 54.61 cm.

Property from the Collection of Edwin Hardy, San Francisco, California.

Provenance:

Property from the Collection of Edwin Hardy, San Francisco, California.

來源：

加州舊金山Edwin Hardy先生藏。

Overall Height: 22 1/2 in., 57.2 cm.
Surface wear throughout, lacquer chipping and abrasions to extremities, surfaces soiled, gilded surfaces worn; joints at feet, shoulders, and arms reglued, loss to scarf by right hip; lacking object in right hand; some carved elements possibly later, such as heels; vertical cracks; two inverted U-shaped applied sections to back; small section of scarf by lowered wrist later, slight wear and dings to stand.

Additional photos are updated before the sale via this link (asian.smugmug.com/Sale-6418). Please read the above or contact us to request a complete condition report.
品相細圖見鏈接 (asian.smugmug.com/Sale-6418)，品相報告見上文。圖錄中未說明品相的拍品並不等沒有磨損、瑕疵或其他問題，建議買家於拍前自行檢查。落槌無悔，請對您的競拍行為負責。如有其他問題，請郵件 [email protected]。

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Please email [email protected] for any additional information or questions you may have regarding this lot.

Annie Wu

Senior Vice President, Head of Department, Asian Art

[email protected]312.447.3260

Ms. Wu joined the firm in 2014, after working as a specialist in the Asian Works of Art Department of an East Coast auction house. She researches, appraises, and sells Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Indian, and South East Asian works of art, including jades, bronzes, ceramics, paintings, armor, and furniture. Throughout her career, Ms. Wu has achieved record prices for several prominent estates and collections, including the Estate of Frank G. Mertes, Sr., Winona, Minnesota; the Chinese Painting Collection of Ms. Yuan Jiaying and Mr. Li Guoyuan, Chicago; the Estate of Hisazo Nagatani, Chicago, and the Asian Art Collection deaccessioned from the Strong Museum of Play, Rochester, New York.

Asian Works of Art

A Japanese Gilt Wood Figure of Kannon Bosatsu, Heian Period, 11th Century

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