A FINE GILT-BRONZE GROUP WITH AVALOKITESHVARA AND TWO WORSHIPPER

Description:

China, engraved inscription and date: On the twelfth day of the twelfth month of the sixth year of the Wuping Era (the Northern Qi Dynasty) 575 AD
H. 16,8 cm
Seated with legs crossed on a lotus-base placed on high four-legged throne, his right hand raised in the abhayamudra while the left in the varadamudra, wearing monastic garment including mantle and scarf, his face displaying a serene expression with downcast eyes, elongated earlobes, his hair combed in a chignon, large mandorla incised with flames behind, the central lotus issuing a pair of lotuses supporting each a worshipper, standing, the hands clasped in anjalimudra, wearing various garments and a halo behind their heads, the reverse of the throne with inscription:
Important Austrian private collection
Publ.: Zeileis 'Von Shang bis Qing - Dreieinhalb Jahrtausende Chinesische Bronze', 1999, no. 157, pp. 378-379
Minor wear, traces of age, partly small losses to base