A seated gilt bronze figure of Avalokiteshvara 隋 / 唐初 銅鎏金觀音坐像

Sui / early Tang dynasty (550 AD-650 AD)

Gilt bronze, finely cast, the bodhisattva seated in meditation on an opulent circular lotus base, the right hand lowered and the left raised, with long scarves falling in rhythmic folds and the jewellery crisply articulated.

This sensitive and powerfully modelled image captures the transition from the more stylised volumes of the Sui period to the fuller, rounded form associated with early Tang sculpture. The assured, self contained posture and the refinement of the face, drapery and ornaments are especially notable. Figures cast fully in the round on a circular pedestal are uncommon, and it is rarer still to find an example preserved in such strong condition, with the gilding surviving to such an appealing degree.

A closely related Avalokiteshvara is catalogued as Tang dynasty by Hugo Munsterberg, with closely comparable handling of the face, scarves, drapery and jewellery, as well as the particular position of the right hand. A further point of comparison is a Sui dynasty Avalokiteshvara illustrated by Matsubara Saburō. Munsterberg also illustrates two related examples attributed to a mature Sui style, including one dated 595 in the British Museum, London, and another in the collection of Mr Hosokawa, Tokyo.