A fine wood 'Guanyin and child' carvingLate Ming Dynasty
The Goddess of Mercy seated in the position of Royal Ease, her right hand holding a rosary, a young boy clambering on her left knee, the finely incised hair falling in a point down her back, wearing elegant long, flowing robes with decorated hems, the wood of lustrous dark patina.
10.2cm (4in) high.注脚This rare figure relates closely to ivory examples of the same date, discussed in Watson, 'Chinese Ivories from the Shang to the Qing', p.53, and note particularly fig.15, a woodblock print illustration of the white-robed Guanyin holding a child, from the Ming encyclopaedia San cui tu hui, (compiled in 1609).