A RARE AND IMPORTANT FINELY CAST GILT-BRONZE FIGURE OF ACUOY...

A RARE AND IMPORTANT FINELY CAST GILT-BRONZE FIGURE OF ACUOYE GUANYIN
DALI KINGDOM, YUNNAN PROVINCE, 12TH CENTURY
A RARE AND IMPORTANT FINELY CAST GILT-BRONZE FIGURE OF ACUOYE GUANYIN DALI KINGDOM, YUNNAN PROVINCE, 12TH CENTURY The tall, slender figure shown standing with right hand raised in vitarkamudra and left hand in varadamudra , the finely incised hair drawn up under a tiara into a tall topknot elaborately dressed with narrow braids arranged in a band and pendent loops which center an image of Amitabha Buddha seated in dhyanasana and fall to the shoulders behind the elongated earring-hung ears, wearing a jeweled and cloud-decorated necklace, foliate arm bands and a belt decorated with florets encircling the slim waist above the folded-over top of the dhoti secured by a sash drawn through a jeweled medallion into a bow, the thin fabric of the skirt falling in U-shaped folds to the bare feet and overlaid with another long sash pulled into loops at the hips before trailing down the sides, with long rectangular tabs projecting from the bottom of the feet, and with an aperture in the back of the skirt and another closed aperture in the figure's back; the later gilt-bronze base cast with stylized lotus petals 18 3/8 in. (47.5 cm.) high; 22¼ in. (56.4 cm.) high including gilt-bronze stand