Seated Guanyin holding a folded paper

China, Qing Dynasty, 17th-18th century
Carved huanghuali with brown patina

Provenance Gérard Lévy, Paris

Price on request

Guanyin is depicted seated in a relaxed posture, with her body slightly bent forward. She leans against a small support whose base is in the shape of a zoomorphic head extending into a clawed paw. Her face, with lowered eyelids, expresses inner meditation.

Her hair is divided into two soft masses, tied and then falling over her shoulders. This detail is particularly important, as it is almost identical to a tinted boxwood Guanyin, 17th-18th century, from the R. Hatfield Ellsworth collection, sold at Christie's New York in 2002. The proximity in size, posture, support, and hairstyle suggests a common workshop origin.

Her hands hold a folded paper, not a cylindrical scroll. This detail links the figure to a literate and meditative iconography of Guanyin. The model belongs to a family of representations also known in Blanc de Chine, as Christie's notes by comparing its sculpture to Dehua prototypes published by P. J. Donnelly in Blanc de Chine.

The wood has a dark brown patina. Some small old cracks, normal for a sculpture of this period.

Height: 19 cm. Width: 12.8 cm. Depth: 11 cm.