A MONUMENTAL WOOD STATUE OF GUANYIN, QING DYNASTY China, 1644-1912. Finely carved standing, wearing a loose flowing robe falling in graceful folds to just above the bare feet, open at the chest to reveal a floral necklace, the eyes with black glass inlays, the hair swept up into a high chignon and centered with a figure of Amitabha seated on a lotus-form base. Traces of red, white and black pigments.

Scientific Analysis Report: A 14C measurement report was completed by Antiques Analytics Laboratory, Germany, Dr. R. Neunteufel, on 14 December 2020, number AA 21-06102. The report states a date of 1687 - 1730 (24% probability) or 1806 - 1925 (71,4% probability). A copy of the report accompanies the lot.
Provenance: From a noted private collection in Poland. Acquired ca. 1990 in the local market.
Condition: The statue with losses, worm holes, remnants of pigments, natural age cracks, all as expected and commensurate with age.

Dimensions: Height 158 cm (excluding the plexiglass base)

Mounted to a fitted plexiglass base (2).

This finely carved figure retains all of the robust power and majesty seen in figures of Tang, Song and Jin dynasty date. The folds of the drapery in the shawl, scarves and dhoti worn by this figure are reminiscent of that seen in painted wood figures of Song date, but the small, pursed mouth, the slender nose and oblique eyes, combined with the crown are more similar to those found in Ming painted sculpture.

Literature comparison: Another figure of this type, dated Song dynasty, is in The National Gallery, Prague and is illustrated in Lubor Hajek and Werner Forman, A Book of Chinese Art, plate XIII. The long scarf draping over the shoulders and trailing to the base appears to be a characteristic of sculpture of the Yuan to Ming dynasty. See, for example, two large painted wood figures of bodhisattvas, each measuring 220 cm., from the Liang-sheng T'ang Collection, illustrated in Ancient Chinese Sculpture II, Kaohsiung Museum of Fine Arts, Taiwan, 2000, pp. 94-7, nos. 37 and 38. Similar treatment of the drapery can be found on a smaller figure (measuring 166 cm. high) from the same collection, illustrated ibid., p. 102-3, no. 41.

Auction result comparison: Compare a related wood figure of Guanyin, at Sotheby’s New York in Fine Chinese Ceramics & Works Of Art on 16 September 2014, lot 503, bough in at an estimate of USD 30,000 to 50,000. Compare also a related wood figure of Guanyin, dated 17th-18th century, at Christie’s New York in Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art on 29 March 2006, sold for USD 66,000.

清代木雕觀音立像
中國，1644-1912年。木雕觀音菩薩跣足立於石座上，菩薩面頰飽滿，眼睛鑲嵌著黑色玻璃，雙唇微啟，頭戴高冠，上原有化佛阿彌陀佛坐像。束髮高髻，餘發自兩側垂落。左右手前肢遺失。菩薩肩覆披帛，頸飾精緻華美佩飾。雕像表面依然多處可見白色、紅色以及黑色殘彩。

科學檢測報告: 一份碳14定年檢測，2020年12月14日，德國古玩檢測實驗室Dr. R. Neunteufel，編號 AA 21-06102. 檢測結果認爲時間約爲 1687 - 1730 (24% 可能性) 或1806 - 1925 (71,4% 可能性)，隨附檢測報告副本。
來源：波蘭知名私人收藏，約於1990年購於當地市場。
品相：雕像有缺損、蟲洞、顏料殘留和自然年代裂縫，與年齡相稱。

尺寸： 高158 厘米 (不含底座)

有機玻璃底座 (2)

拍賣結果比較：比較相近的木雕觀音，見紐約蘇富比Fine Chinese Ceramics & Works Of Art2014年9月16日 lot 503, 估價USD 30,000 to 50,000；另一件十七至十八世紀的木雕觀音，見紐約佳士得Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art 2006年3月29日 售價USD 66,000。