Large Chinese carved wood Guanyin on lion, Likely Ming Dynasty (14th c. or later), carved polychromed wood, seated in Rajalilasana, the posture of "royal ease", with the right arm extended, supported on a raised knee in Vitarka Mudra supported by a recumbent Buddhist lion, approx. 41"h x 35"w x 15"d

Provenance: The Collection of visual artist Lewis Stein, NYC

Notes/Literature: Literature: A comparable figure of Guanyin seated on a lion, attributed to the 13th and 14th centuries, in the exhibition Ancient Chinese Sculpture, Eskenazi, London, 1981, cat.no. 15.; Artist Lewis Stein (1945-2022) was an original SOHO pioneer working and collecting from his Broome Street loft over a five decade career. Inspired by artists like Marcel Duchamp and Andy Warhol, he started taking common household objects, like cleavers and hammers, and painting them in bright garish colors. In the late 1960s, he met dealer Dick Bellamy, who introduced his work to the gallerists who gave him his first exposure, including David Whitney in New York, Nicholas Wilder in Los Angeles, and Rolf Ricke in Cologne. A practitioner of Zen Buddhism, Stein made his first of many trips to mainland China in 1975, where he discovered and made an aesthetic connection to traditional Chinese Arts. Over the decades Stein amassed a formidable collection of Asian artifacts and a reputation for scholarly connoisseurship.

Fair, overall cracked weathered surface, light for size with age related moisture loss, break repairs including arms and foot, wood losses to fingers and toes, edge chips, remnant white pigment **Note: Condition reports are based on visual inspection under typical office lighting. Unless otherwise noted, items are not examined under UV light in advance of sale. If you are interested in bidding, please contact us to request a more thorough examination, or make an appointment for in-person inspection. Condition reports are rendered as specialist opinion by the staff of the Auction House and not as statements of fact. We do not guarantee the content of written or verbal condition reports. Remember, all sales are final. The absence of a condition report does not imply that there are no condition issues with the lot. Please call us at (973) 377-1500 or e-mail info@milleabros.com with any questions about this lot at least 24 hours prior to auction.