RARE Chinese Liao Dynasty bronze seated Bodhisattvas Buddha figure of Guanyin and Torana. The Guanyin seated in full lotus position with serene face and breast encircled with Brahmin string necklace; with a lower garment of silk. The right hand is raised on chest holding a scepter, and the left hand rest on the lap in a meditative gesture (mudra). With the legs folded in vajra posture he is seated above a lotus throne.
Measurements: Height: 7" Width: 2 7/8"PROVENANCE:Pineville-Charlotte, North Carolina, private collector, by inheritance. Believed to be purchased from OLIVOTTI BRO'S, 1191 Broadway, New York, N Y. and/or, of 145 Tremont ST. Boston, MA. During 1916-1924. LOT NOTES:Guanyin or Guan Yin is the most commonly used Chinese translation of the bodhisattva known as 'Avalokiteshvara'. Guanyin refers to the Buddhist bodhisattva associated with compassion and venerated chiefly by followers of Mahayana Buddhist schools as practiced in the sinosphere. Guanyin also refers to the bodhisattva as adopted by other Eastern religions such as Daoism, where she is revered as an immortal, as well as Chinese folk religions, where the mythical accounts about Guanyin's origins do not associate with the Avalokiteshvara described in Buddhist sutras. She is often known as the "Goddess of Mercy" or the Mercy Goddess. The Chinese name Guanyin, is short for Guanshiyin, which means "Perceives the Sounds of the World". Some Buddhists believe that when one of their adherents departs from this world, they are placed by Guanyin in the heart of a lotus, and then sent to the western Pure Land of Sukhavati. Guanyin is often referred to as the "most widely beloved Buddhist Divinity" with miraculous powers to assist all those who pray to her, as is said in the Lotus Sutra and Karandavyuha Sutra. Some Buddhist and Christian observers have commented on the similarity between Guanyin and the Blessed Virgin Mary. This can be attributed to the representation of Guanyin holding a child in Chinese art and sculpture; it is believed that Guanyin is the patron saint of mothers and grants parents filial children, this apparition is popularly known as the "Child-Sending Guanyin"