Head of Guanyin
Sandstone
China
14th – 15th century (Ming dynasty 1368-1644)
H. 39 cm or 15 ¼ in
Description
Two close examples of gray limestone head of Guanyin were sold at Christie’s Paris ; the first one, much larger, dated from the Yuan dynasty, Lot 334, 10 December 2014 ; the second one, similar in size and dated from the 14th century, Lot 261, 13 June 2013, lot 261. Another head, dated Liao, was sold at Sotheby’s New York, 16 September 2015, Lot 428. Other examples slightly different have been published in O. Siren, Chinese Sculptures in the von der Heydt Collection, Museum Rietberg, Zurich 1959, pl. 57 (Musée Rietberg), or O. Siren, Chinese Sculpture: From the Fifth to the Fourteenth Century, vol. II, SDI Publications, Bangkok 1998, plate 563 C (Metropolitan Museum).
