A JAVANESE BRONZE FIGURE OF AVALOKITESHVARA, 9TH-10TH CENTURY
Java. Cast standing on a circular lotus base, the left hand held in karanamudra and the right holding a lotus stem extending along the arm and terminating in a bud to the shoulder. Wearing a dhoti and richly adorned in beaded jewelry, the hair with a stupa-like headdress behind the five-leaf crown. The serene face with an urna, downcast eyes below gently arched brows, and full lips forming a subtle smile.

Provenance: The private collection of Haji Daeng Iskandar. A New York, USA, private collection, acquired from the above. Haji Daeng Iskandar was a notable art dealer in Bali, Indonesia, specializing in Indonesian primitive and tribal art.
Condition: Very good condition commensurate with age. Extensive old wear, traces of gilt, encrustations, small losses, dents and nicks here and there. Overall with a fine, malachite-green patina.

Weight: 1,392 g
Dimensions: Height 28.5 cm

Literature comparison: Compare with two closely related examples in the Metropolitan Museum of Art including a Vishnu that shares the same iconographic program and a Garuda projecting from the base, accession number 1987.142.15, see Lener and Kossak, The Lotus Transcendent, New York, p.188, no.146, and a standing Manjushri, accession number 2001.758.2, in a flexed pose.

Auction result comparison: Compare with a related figure of Vishnu at Bonhams Hong Kong, in Fine Southeast Asian Arts, 29 March 2018, lot 11, sold for HKD 375,000.