33.8 cm. （13 3/8 in.） high

Sun Su An Collection ­- Property from an Important Japanese Private Collection

Provenance：
A Japanese Private Collection, acquired prior to 2000

The present figure belongs to a very distinctive group of monumental Buddhist art that has been the subject of much debate regarding the exact origin. A very similar standing figure of Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara in the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts was recently the subject of an article by Christian Boehm in Arts of Asia, Buddhist Bronzes of the Dali Kingdom in Yunnan Province, July-August 2015 where it is noted that, the flower-shaped medallions and decorative elements of the crown are very similar to those found on other figures attributed to the Dali Kingdom. The author also notes the highly unusual depiction of the scene of the Death of Buddha, Nirvana, on the medallion covering the belly and a second medallion near the base depicting the seated Buddha flanked by two disciples and a pair of dragons. The Virginia Avalokiteshvara and the present figure are remarkably similar, differing only in the size （the Virginia Avalokiteshvara is 45cm. high compared to the present 33.8cm. figure） and a few minor stylistic elements. Both figures appear to have a sealed cavity at the back which may have been used to keep relics. A third, even larger figure （46.7cm. high）, also almost completely identical in most aspects, from the Nitta Group Collection, now in the National Palace Museum, Taiwan, is illustrated in The Crucible of Compassion and Wisdom, Special Exhibition Catalog of the Buddhist Bronzes from the Nitta Group Collection at the National Palace Museum, Taipei, 1987, p.186, pl.90, where it is dated to the Five Dynasties period （907-960 AD）. The remarkable similarity and unique iconography of these three figures suggests that they were made within a very similar time period in a single place. It is also clear that these figures must have ranked among the most technically complex and costly commissions attempted during this period.

See further comparable examples of gilt bronze Bodhisattva illustrated by Jin Shen, Catalogue of Treasures of Buddhist Sculpture in Overseas Collections Including Hong Kong and Taiwan, Shanxi, 2007. Compare a gilt bronze figure of a standing Guanyin dated to the Five Dynasties formerly in the Nitta Group Collection, op.cit., p.524. See also three other examples of gilt bronze figures of Guanyin from the Dali Kingdom： one seated figure also in the Nitta Group Collection； another standing figure in the collection of Museum fur Ostasiaticsche Kunst, Cologne； the last standing figure currently resides in the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, op.cit., pp.524, 526 and 528.

Price estimate:
HKD: 6, 000, 000 - 8, 000, 000
USD: 769, 200 - 1, 025, 600

Auction Result:
HKD: 10,040,000