Lot 8912. An inscribed bronze figure of Guanyin, Qing dynasty, 17th - 18th century; 45.5 cm. Lot Sold 228,600 HKD (Estimate 300,000 - 500,000 HKD). © Sotheby's 2025

naturalistically cast as a standing figure of Guanyin with a serene, contemplative expression, adorned in long flowing robes, an elaborated diadem set in her elaborately coiffed hair beneath the cowl, wearing a jewelled necklace, matched by a tassel extending from the skirt, visible between her feet, the patina a brownish-black colour with a thick accretion of incense smoke, the centre of the back incised with a three-character zhuanshu mark Xinyu yin (‘Seal of Xinyu’)

Provenance: Sydney L. Moss Ltd., London, March 2008.
The Water, Pine And Stone Retreat Collection.
Sotheby's Hong Kong, 8th April 2014, lot 207.

Note: This striking and sensitively rendered model of Guanyin is of a type often inlaid with silver-wire decoration and marked Shisou (or Xinyu). It is closely related to models of Guanyin in Dehua porcelain, ivory and soapstone models, all of them from Fujian province. During the sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries, the cult of the White-Robed Guanyin, originating in Fujian, was extremely popular, resulting in a proliferation of figures produced in different media.

Sotheby's. Arcade Sale | Hong Kong, 14 March 2025