Lot 96. A gilt-bronze seated figure of Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara (Gwanse’eum Bosal), Goryeo dynasty (13th -14th century);8 ½ in. (21.6 cm.) high. Estimate USD 25,000 - USD 30,000. Price realised USD 47,500. © Christie's Images Ltd 2016

Cast as a seated figure with the right hand raised in vitarkamudra, and the left hand resting at the center, dressed in a skirt with a scarf draped around the shoulders, over the arms and across the front of the crossed legs, the chest and arms adorned with various jewelries, the hair gathered up into a high coiffure adorned with an elaborate head-ornament.

Provenance: Private collection, Japan.

Note: The high and relatively wide cheekbones of this work shown here are the characteristics of the Buddhist sculptures from the Goryeo dynasty. The elaborate crown and various jewelry also resemble in the depictions of Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara paintings from Goryeo dynasty.

For a similar gilt-bronze figure from the same period in the collection of Musée Guimet, see Pierre Cambon, L'Art Coréen au Musée Guimet (Paris: Réunion des Musées Nationaux, 2001), pl. 28; For a painting of Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara from Goryeo dynasty in the collection of Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, accessible online at http://www.harvardartmuseums.org/collections/object/303631?position=24

Christie's. An Inquiring Mind: American Collecting of Japanese and Korean Art, New York, 15 April 2016