A MARBLE HEAD OF AVALOKITESHVARACarved with serene expression, arched eyebrows above down-cast eyes, aquiline nose, pouting lips, all between elongated earlobes, beneath striated hairdressbed into a curled chignon, stand. 47cm (18 1/2in) high Provenance : A European private collection The present head is remarkable for its sensitive carving style. The full fleshy face, narrow slit eyes and arched brows, which form a harmonious curve with the ridge of the nose, as well as the coiffure with hair drawn back into a high chignon, appear to be a direct derivation from the the classic style of the Bodhisattva image which developed during the Tang dynasty (618-907). Guanyin is the popular feminised form of Avalokiteshvara, the Bodhisattva ofpassion, and is one of the Buddhist deities most favoured in China for sculptural and pictographic representation. According to the 'Lotus Sutra', Guanyin can take any form necessary to save sentient beings, and mentions thirty-three form which the deity could take, of which seven were female. The figure's sensual curves however, evoke a distinctly feminine feel, and by the Ming dynasty, Guanyin was usually depicted in a feminine form. Stylistically, the present lot is inspired by Tang dynasty prototypes. See for example, a standing stone stone bodhisattva, Tang dynasty, with related facial features and hair style from the Cleveland Museum of Art, Tang dynasty, illustrated by O.Siren, Chinese Sculpture from the Fifth to the Fourteenth Century , London, 1925, vol.2, pl.376 C.