PRINTPROVENANCE:
Private Asian Collection
Private Asian Collection
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654
A IMPERIAL DRY-LACQUER FIGURE OF AVALOKITESVARA
Ming Dynasty (AD 1368-1644) |
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H :47 cm |
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Estimate
2,600,000 - 3,600,000 82,700 - 114,600 642,000 - 889,000
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Sold Price 3,480,000
108,784
844,660
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Catalogue Note
A Imperial Dry-Lacquer Figure of Avalokitesvara
Ming Dynasty (AD 1368-1644)
This figure of Avalokitesvara is depicted with a gentle expression, high-arched nose, down-casted eyes and a smile appearing on the lip, seated in dhyansana. The deity’s wearing kasaya with strings of jades and pearls adorning the chest, lower half of the body covered in long skirt. This is an perfect example of the incorporation of the techniques of dry-lacquer and gold-lacquer. The technique allowed for very precise sculpting and in the modeling of the present head the sculptors displayed particular sensitivity and an uncanny understanding of the expressive quality of simple, sharp lines and soft, rounded curves, with a splendid visual effect. The figure was made in a typical Ming style, which is highly rare to see in such good condition of preservation.
The technique of dry-lacquer can be dated back to the Spring and Autumn period; now the majority of Chinese earlier Buddhist figures made by this technique are in foreign countries. Among the collections of The Metropolitan Museum of Art and Seattle Art Museum there are dry-lacquer figures of Buddha of Tang dynasty which are extremely precious. There is no other technique or material that can evoke the harmony and perfection of a divine face like this ‘dry lacquer’ technique. The production began with a stick-like wooden model over which a figure was sculpted from clay. Onto this clay base patches of lacquer-imbued hemp were pasted that later would provide the core of the figure. These were then covered with further lacquer layers, which would be sculpted in greater detail and carved to acquire their final appearance. The surface was eventually painted in polychrome pigments. When finished, the figures were cut open at the back and the original construction of wood and clay removed to hollow them out and to leave only the thin skin of hemp and lacquer. The advantages of such light figures compared with ones carved from stone are obvious, as they could be completed in specialized metropolitan workshops, easily transported, and carried around in processions.
Ming Dynasty (AD 1368-1644)
This figure of Avalokitesvara is depicted with a gentle expression, high-arched nose, down-casted eyes and a smile appearing on the lip, seated in dhyansana. The deity’s wearing kasaya with strings of jades and pearls adorning the chest, lower half of the body covered in long skirt. This is an perfect example of the incorporation of the techniques of dry-lacquer and gold-lacquer. The technique allowed for very precise sculpting and in the modeling of the present head the sculptors displayed particular sensitivity and an uncanny understanding of the expressive quality of simple, sharp lines and soft, rounded curves, with a splendid visual effect. The figure was made in a typical Ming style, which is highly rare to see in such good condition of preservation.
The technique of dry-lacquer can be dated back to the Spring and Autumn period; now the majority of Chinese earlier Buddhist figures made by this technique are in foreign countries. Among the collections of The Metropolitan Museum of Art and Seattle Art Museum there are dry-lacquer figures of Buddha of Tang dynasty which are extremely precious. There is no other technique or material that can evoke the harmony and perfection of a divine face like this ‘dry lacquer’ technique. The production began with a stick-like wooden model over which a figure was sculpted from clay. Onto this clay base patches of lacquer-imbued hemp were pasted that later would provide the core of the figure. These were then covered with further lacquer layers, which would be sculpted in greater detail and carved to acquire their final appearance. The surface was eventually painted in polychrome pigments. When finished, the figures were cut open at the back and the original construction of wood and clay removed to hollow them out and to leave only the thin skin of hemp and lacquer. The advantages of such light figures compared with ones carved from stone are obvious, as they could be completed in specialized metropolitan workshops, easily transported, and carried around in processions.