(G71) Exuding majesty and composure, the bodhisattva of compassion seated at ease in rajalilasana upon a recumbent elephant, her head crowned with a lofty pierced diadem composed of foliate scrolls and centred by the carved image of the Amitabha Buddha seated in dhyanasana, details enlivened with vermilion and copper-green pigments, her hair coloured with naturalistic blue-black pigment, some tresses looped around her pendulous lobes and trailing in splayed tendrils over her shoulders, the broad hairline lining her round face with lovingly carved features, her half-closed, slanted eyes beneath the gentle arches of her eyebrows, her plump lips with applied vermilion pigment gently pursed, radiating grace and serenity, her shoulders enfolded in a copper-green shawl, drawn open at the chest to reveal an intricate multi-tiered chain necklace, her body enveloped in a copper-green and vermilion dhoti, the folds naturalistically modelled, in rhythm with the contours of her body, the skirt draped over the haunches of the animal, creating a continuity of form, the elephant with its trunk curled over to the side, wearing a bridle lined with floral roundels, its heavy-lidded eyes sharply carved, with two tapered tusks protruding from its jowls, the whole set upon a flat wooden plinth, enlivened with polychrome application.

Provenance: In the private collection of the Choy family, Hong Kong, from 1938 until being purchased in April 2010.

Height 103 cm

(G71) Exuding majesty and composure, the bodhisattva of compassion seated at ease in rajalilasana upon a recumbent elephant, her head crowned with a lofty pierced diadem composed of foliate scrolls and centred by the carved image of the Amitabha Buddha seated in dhyanasana, details enlivened with vermilion and copper-green pigments, her hair coloured with naturalistic blue-black pigment, some tresses looped around her pendulous lobes and trailing in splayed tendrils over her shoulders, the broad hairline lining her round face with lovingly carved features, her half-closed, slanted eyes beneath the gentle arches of her eyebrows, her plump lips with applied vermilion pigment gently pursed, radiating grace and serenity, her shoulders enfolded in a copper-green shawl, drawn open at the chest to reveal an intricate multi-tiered chain necklace, her body enveloped in a copper-green and vermilion dhoti, the folds naturalistically modelled, in rhythm with the contours of her body, the skirt draped over the haunches of the animal, creating a continuity of form, the elephant with its trunk curled over to the side, wearing a bridle lined with floral roundels, its heavy-lidded eyes sharply carved, with two tapered tusks protruding from its jowls, the whole set upon a flat wooden plinth, enlivened with polychrome application.

Provenance: In the private collection of the Choy family, Hong Kong, from 1938 until being purchased in April 2010.

Height 103 cm