Antique Red Lacquer and Gilt Nanhai Guanyin in Meditation (16302BEME) SPECIAL PRICE

Description

This exceptional carving is form of Nanhai Guanyin which means Guanyin of the Southern Seas, one her most portrayed of her 33 manifestations during the Ming and early Qing dynasties. Her pedestal with hanging foliage and base in the form of stones indicates she is seated on her rocky outcrop on Putuo island in the South China Sea where she resides and a renowned pilgrimage site for over 1000 years. She is in meditation, her exquisitely carved hands in her lap in dhyanasana mudra and her feet in padmasana, the lotus position, under her elegantly flowing robe. Her half-closed eyes, highlighted by the remains of gilt which cover her face, glance down in serenity with a slight smile on her lips. Characteristic of Guanyin images during the Qing she has a full and mature face. Her hair frames her face, loops over her pendulous ears, extends in plaits down her shoulders and is piled in a chignon on the top of her head, symbolizing that with her spiritual and physical beauty she presides over both the sacred and material world. Typical of Pure Land Guanyin images, she wears an elaborate scalloped diadem centered by the seated Buddha Amitabha, the Buddha of Infinite Light. He is one of the five Dhyani Buddhas of Mahayana Buddhism and the principle buddha in Pure Land Buddhism, the largest Dharma school in Buddhism. This elaborate crown with a beaded lower border bestows a divine and solemn quality to the image and reflects her role as Amitabha’s principal attendant. This extraordinary Guanyin is unique and rare because its red lacquer and gilt crown is similar to a huge ancient Indian statue with a similar shaped crown with Amitayus (also known as Amitabha Buddha) described in the Sutra of Contemplation on Buddha Amitayus as a high heavenly crown made with pearls resting atop Guanyin’s head. This is a unique Pure Land Buddhist portrayal as the donor who commissioned it and the artist who created it had knowledge of the description in the sutra which would be very rare. The front and sides of her highly gilded crown are made using red lacquer circular beads as a row of 19 small pearls on the crown’s bottom just above Guanyin’s black hairline and each of the crown’s five lobes also have larger “lacquer pearls.” Her hair frames her face, loops over her ears, extends in plaits down her shoulders and is piled in a chignon on the top of her head, symbolizing that with her spiritual and physical beauty she presides over both the sacred and material world. It is in very good condition with expected surface flaking and fading, and old insect damage mainly on the back of the piece.