Bidspirit auction | AN EXCEPTIONALLY RARE AND IMPORTANT

AN EXCEPTIONALLY RARE AND IMPORTANT LARGE GILT-BRONZE FIGURE OF GWANSE-EUM BOSAL - h cm 52 Seated in dhyānāsana, he holds his hands in shuni mudrā. He wears a broad draped robe that falls over a tied dhotī, covering both feet. Lavish rosette-shaped jewels descend from the neck to ornament the chest, recur across the garment and punctuate the earlobes. Long lacquered-black locks fall in waves over the shoulders and are gathered into a chignon at the crown. The serene face is distinguished by a painted moustache and beard and by half-closed eyes with visible pupils. An ūrṇā inlaid with rock crystal is set at the centre of the forehead. Provenance: From a private collection, Milan. *This lot has been searched against the database of lost and stolen art kept by The Art Loss Register and is clear. Catalog notes: Large-scale gilt-bronze images of Avalokitesvara became characteristic of the Goryeo period [1], reflecting the widespread diffusion of Buddhism at that time [2]. Production of bronzes of this type intensified from the mid-Goryeo period (c. 12th–13th centuries), when bronze largely supplanted iron as the preferred medium for monumental statuary previously common in the early Goryeo phase (c. 10th–12th centuries) [3]. The present sculpture, example of technical mastery attributable to the mid-Goryeo period, yet it retains features typical of the early Goryeo phase, notably an idealized face with markedly elongated eyes [4]. Indeed, the same facial traits – including the painted moustache and beard – and comparable expression appear in the large gilded iron statue of Cheonsu Gwanseum Bosal in the Musée Guimet [5] (link), Paris, dated to the 10th–11th centuries. Other relevant parallels concern the treatment of the hair and the drapery — particularly the triangular hem that falls over both knees and the pointed tie that secures the inner garment. The clear Chinese features visible in the present bronze — especially in the facial modelling — are characteristic of the mid- Goryeo period [6]. In particular, the sinuous locks falling over the shoulders are a distinctive sign of Song (960–1279) influence upon mid-Goryeo sculpture [7]. This influence is readily appreciated in comparison with a Chinese wooden sculpture of the Southern Song dynasty (1126–1279) representing Avalokiteśvara, now preserved at Sennyūji temple [8] (link), Japan. The subject, pose and facial expression — half-closed eyes, hair laid over the shoulders, moustache and beard painted and a conspicuous necklace on the chest — correspond closely. These parallels, together with the documented maritime transmission of iconographic types, indicate that Goryeo ateliers reworked Song prototypes into sculpted and cast forms suited to regional circulation, particularly in the case of images of Avalokiteśvara [9]. See also the Northern Song (960–1127) ceramic Avalokiteśvara in the collection of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art [10] (link): the facial rendering, with moustache and beard painted beneath the nose and on the chin, is strikingly analogous to that of the present bronze statue, as is the necklace. A comparable gilt-bronze figure of a bodhisattva of the mid-Goryeo period, dated to the 12th–13th centuries, is conserved in a Japanese collection [11] and it displays all the typical period traits: both works wear a heavy outer robe [12] that falls along the arm with broad sleeves and long undulating hair that descends over the shoulders; the upper garments fall like a sleeve and form a triangular hem over both legs [13] and in both examples the pointed termination of the innergarment fastening is visible. One notable difference in the present piece is the profusion of jewellery. Junghee Lee identifies such ostentatious ornamentation as more typical of the late Goryeo period (13th–14th centuries) [14] plausibly deriving from Liao (907–1125), Jin (1115–1234) and Yuan (1271–1368) Chinese influences [15]; however, as noted above, Song images were already depicted with conspicuous jewellery [16]. Mid-Goryeo examples bearing ornamentation are attested [17], notably the gilded wooden Gwaneum Bosal at Bongjeongsa [18] (link), Andong (c. 1199). This work shares Southern Song–derived formal traits [19] with the present bronze — a bold, dignified facial expression; locks of hair falling over the shoulders; an outer robe that covers the shoulders; billowing sleeves terminating in triangular hems that drape across the knees. Together with the jewellery adorning the ears, chest and drapery at thigh level, further correspondences can be observed in the pose, the painted moustache and beard, and the long, slightly inclined eyes. Another important comparison is a gilded wooden Gwaneum Bosal in lalitāsana (royal-ease pose) in the collection of the National Museum of Korea [20] (link), Seoul, dated to the 13th century and exhibited at the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Washington, D.C.,