Two large companion gilt-bronze figures of Bodhisattvas, Ming dynasty, 16th - 17th century | 明十六至十七世紀 鎏金銅菩薩坐像一組兩尊

Property from a European Private Collection
Two large companion gilt-bronze figures of Bodhisattvas
Ming dynasty, 16th - 17th century

(2)
Height 50 cm, 19¾ in. ; Height 48 cm, 18⅞ in.
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Collection particulière européenne
Deux grands compagnons bodhisattvas assis en bronze doré, dynastie Ming, XVIe - XVIIe siècle
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歐洲私人收藏
明十六至十七世紀 鎏金銅菩薩坐像一組兩尊

Condition Report:
Both figures are in generally good condition, with only some general wear to the surface and small chips to the extremities overall. Some small patchings are also visible, including to the back of the neck of the figure on the right, as well as to his upper right back.
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一對整體品相良好，僅通體表面見磨痕，邊角處帶小磕。可見少許小補片，如其一後頸處、背部右上方。

Catalogue Note:
The bodhisattva Guanyin Avalokiteshvara is identified by the effigy of Amitabha Buddha on the crown of the figure holding the ambrosia vase in his left hand and a willow branch in the right. There are no specific attributes on the second figure with which to firmly identify the deity, however a late Ming seated bodhisattva in the Chang Foundation with the same hand gestures is identified as Guanyin, Avalokiteshvara, see Buddhist Images in Gilt Bronze, Taipei, 1993, cat. no. 39. It may also be that this figure depicts another of the Eight Great Bodhisattvas, either Manjushri, Vajrapani, Maitreya, Samantabhadra, Kshitigarbha, Akashagarbha or Sarvanivaranavishkambhin.

The tall elaborate crown style is typical of later Ming bronzes, cf. the crown, earring and jewellery type and the finely engraved textile designs of sixteenth or early seventeenth century gilt-bronze bodhisattvas in the Chang Foundation, ibid., cat. nos 35 and 38. And compare the proportions of the sculptures, the crown type, the long hair tresses, the engraved textile patterns, and the style of the earrings and jewellery with the two gilt bronze bodhisattvas flanking Shakyamuni Buddha in a late Ming Buddhist triad in the Nitta Collection, see The Crucible of Compassion and Wisdom, National Palace Museum, Taipei, 1991, cat. no. 112. The hand gestures of the Nitta bodhisattvas are identical to this pair of bodhisattvas, and it may be that the bronzes originally flanked a central image of Buddha.

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兩尊菩薩其一頭冠供奉阿彌陀佛，左手持淨瓶，右手持柳條，據此可知其為觀音菩薩。另一尊菩薩缺少確定身份的特徵，但張氏收藏中藏一件晚明觀音造像與其手勢類似，可為參考，見《金銅造像圖錄》，台北，1993，編號39。此像亦可能為八大菩薩中的文殊菩薩，彌勒菩薩，普賢菩薩，地藏菩薩，虛空藏菩薩或除蓋障菩薩。

高大精緻的頭冠為晚明造像的典型特徵。兩尊菩薩的頭冠，耳環，穿戴珠寶以及衣紋可比較張氏基金會收藏所藏兩近例，同上，編號35，36。另可比較新田集藏中一組晚明一佛二菩薩中的兩尊協侍菩薩，參閱台北故宮編，《金銅佛造像特展圖錄—新田集藏》，台北，1991年，編號112。新田集藏中兩尊協侍菩薩手勢與本組菩薩一致，因此本尊極可能為主尊佛像兩側之協侍菩薩。

Provenance:
Collection of Mrs Wouters and Mr Hianné, Brussels.

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Wouters女士及Hianné先生收藏，布魯塞爾