A RARE AND IMPORTANT SILVER-INLAID BRONZE FIGURE OF GUANYINHe Chaozong seal mark, late Ming DynastyThe exquisitely cast Goddess of Mercy standing on swirling clouds, swaying gently, her left hand gently resting on her right wrist, both elegantly raised with her fingers beautifully coiled, the benevolent facial expression with her eyes downcast in affectionate and meditative contemplation, her flowing robes inlaid with silver-wire patterned as continuous foliate lotus scrolls, cascading down to her feet, draped around the shoulders and open to reveal the chest with a beaded necklace attached with a ruyi fungus pendant, the back with seal mark. 60cm (23 1/2in) high.Footnotes:明晚期 銅嵌銀絲觀音立像「何朝宗印」篆書款Published and Illustrated: Michael Goedhuis, Chinese and Japanese Bronzes A.D.1100-1900, London, 1989, no.7.展覽著錄：Michael Goedhuis著，《Chinese and Japanese Bronzes A.D.1100-1900》，倫敦，1988年，編號7 The present silver-inlaid bronze figure of the Goddess of Mercy is rare and only a few bronze figures of Guanyin of comparable size with similar hand gestures, dated to the Ming dynasty, seem to be recorded. The present lot also exhibits a similar thickness of the silver wire inlay, typical of late Ming dynasty bronzes. Whereas the silver inlay on later examples is usually much thinner. See three similar silver-inlaid bronze figures of Guanyin, Shisou marks, Ming dynasty, in the Qing Court Collection, illustrated in Classics of the Forbidden City: Guanyin in the Collection of The Palace Museum, Beijing, 2012, pls.43-45. Compare also with a 16th/17th century silver-inlaid figure of Guanyin, with two-character 'Shisou' mark, which was sold at Bonhams Hong Kong, 27th May 2021, lot 27; and another silver-inlaid bronze figure of Guanyin, with four-character 'Yutang Shisou' mark, Qing dynasty, which was sold at Christie's Hong Kong, 28th May 2014, lot 3529.He Chaozong was a celebrated early 17th century potter who specialised in blanc de Chine wares. Indeed, one can see a related blanc de Chine figure of Guanyin, He Chaozong mark, Ming dynasty, in the Qing Court Collection, illustrated in Dehua Wares Collected by the Palace Museum I, Beijing, 2016, pp.43-45. One of the possibilities is that the bronze Guanyin was directly modelled after the blanc de Chine example. This is not unique; see for example, a related rare and large silver-inlaid bronze figure of Buddha, with inlaid He Chaozong seal mark, which was sold at Bonhams London, 11 May 2017, lot 108. The various examples of bronze and porcelain figures of Guanyin from this time related to the increased demand due to the spread of the Guanyin cult from the late Ming period onwards. This may in part have been spurred by images and statues of the Virgin Mary which were brought to China following Spanish and Portuguese presence in the region in the 16th century from Macau and the Philippines; indeed, there are striking similarities between ivory carvings of Guanyin and Christian iconography; see for example, an ivory carving of Guanyin with a boy in her arms, Ming dynasty, illustrated in Ming and Qing Chinese Arts from the C.P.Lin Collection, Hong Kong, 2014, p.297, no.179. Ultimately however, Guanyin was seen as a compassionate saviour who hears the woes of humankind, regardless of age, gender, or social class. Guanyin became a popular intercessor for humanity to understand divine salvation. In times of increasing political instability and social flux such as the late Ming period and early Qing era, Guanyin would have been a source of comfort for many on the margins of society. As the 'Bestower of Sons', Guanyin was venerated by women who sought to have sons of their own. In Confucian China, women were expected to stay within their domestic spaces, where such personal devotional objects offered opportunities to interact intimately with the divine. Perhaps the increased demand for bronze and porcelain statues reflects the growth of small household shrines, that would have allowed people to create a direct link as the faithful sought to emulate and aspire toward this image of divine compassion and motherhood.Due to the development of metallurgical technology, Ming dynasty bronzes ranked among the most exquisite and admired products of China's so-called 'second bronze age'; see China's Renaissance in Bronze: The Robert H.Clague Collection of Later Chinese Bronzes 1100-1900 , Phoenix, 1993, p.11. The present lot encapsulates the high level of craftsmanship achieved at the time.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com
