Lot 3767. A rare Ming sancai glazed stoneware figure of Guanyin, Ming dynasty, 16th century; 35 3/8 in. (89.8 cm.) high. Estimate HKD 2,200,000 - HKD 2,800,000. Price Realized HKD 4,580,000. © Christie's Images Ltd. 2011

The Bodhisattva seated in rajalilasana with one leg pendant and the other raised on the rocky outcrop, with both hands clasped around the right knee, her corpulent figure draped in loose fiiting green robes tied high above the waist with the upper chest exposed, the shoulders covered by a wide scarf draped around the arms with the long ends falling in folds over the rocks, the legs and chest luxuriantly adorned with beads and jewels, the head with a tall chignon behind a bejeweled crown, the buff pottery figure covered in bright green, straw and yellow enamel glazes highlighted in black.

Exhibited: Chinese Ceramic Art, Innovation and Imitation, from the Neolithic Period through the Qing Dynasty, Michael B. Weisbrod, Inc., Nov./Dec. 1988, illustrated and discussed in the Catalogue by J. May Lee, no. 41 

Note: A related sancai-glazed seated figure of Buddha is illustrated by Rene-Yvon Lefevre d'Argence, Chinese, Korean and Japanese Sculpture from the Avery Brundage Collection, Kondasha, Tokyo, 1974, fig. 170. In the catalogue description, the author writes, "The figure belongs to a large series, many of which have reportedly come from Shansi, and is very close to a Buddha now in the Musee Guimet. The Avery Brundage Collection example seems to continue the style of a pottery Buddha, dated 1494, in the Metropolitan Museum of Art." The dated figure in the Metropolitan Museum is illustrated by W. Cox, The Book of Pottery and Porcelain, Vol. 1, New York, 1947, pl. 151.

Christie's. Important Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, 1 June 2011, Convention Hall