Jar with stamped and punctated decoration, Vietnam, Hán Việt or Vạn Xuân period, 200-600 CE. Earthenware. H x Diam (overall): 9.5 x 11.5 cm (3 3/4 x 4 1/2 in). Gift of Osborne and Gratia Hauge, and Victor and Takako Hauge. Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, S2004.128 © 2017 Smithsonian Institution

Lamp, Southern Vietnam, Oc Eo culture, Pre-Angkor period, 3rd-6th century. Earthenware. H x W x D (overall): 3.1 x 7.4 x 7.2 cm (1 1/4 x 2 15/16 x 2 13/16 in). Gift of Osborne and Gratia Hauge, and Victor and Takako Hauge. Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, S2004.184 © 2017 Smithsonian Institution

Lamp, Southern Vietnam, Oc Eo culture, Pre-Angkor period, 3rd-6th century. Earthenware. H x Diam (overall): 1.9 x 5.2 cm (3/4 x 2 1/16 in). Gift of Osborne and Gratia Hauge, and Victor and Takako Hauge. Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, S2004.185 © 2017 Smithsonian Institution

Lamp, Southern Vietnam, Funan-Chenla Culture, 6th-11th century. Earthenware. H x W x D (overall): 2.3 x 9.6 x 9.2 cm (7/8 x 3 3/4 x 3 5/8 in). Gift of Osborne and Gratia Hauge, and Victor and Takako Hauge. Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, S2004.181 © 2017 Smithsonian Institution

Oil lamp, Southern Vietnam, Funan-Chenla Culture, 6th-11th century. Earthenware. H x W x D (overall): 2.9 x 9.6 x 9.4 cm (1 1/8 x 3 3/4 x 3 11/16 in). Gift of Osborne and Gratia Hauge, and Victor and Takako Hauge. Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, S2004.182 © 2017 Smithsonian Institution

Lot 16. Olivier Debré (1920-1999), Petite bleu mauve - Big Bend, 1983. Huile sur toile signée, datée, titrée et dédicacée à Claude et Michèle Harel au dos, 24 x 33 cm. Estimation : 3 000 - 4 000 €. Photo Millon

Provenance : Collection Claude et Michèle Harel

Lot 17. Olivier Debré (1920-1999), Petite Gorée rose, 1986. Huile sur toile signée, datée, titrée et dédicacée à Michèle Harel au dos, 14 x 22 cm. Estimation : 1 200 - 1 500 €. Photo Millon 

Provenance : Collection Claude et Michèle Harel

Toile peinte à l'occasion de la visite faite par l'artiste en avril 1986 à Claude Harel, alors ambassadeur de France à Dakar, Sénégal

Millon. Les maîtres de l'abstraction; Autour de la collection Claude & Michèle Harel, lundi 06 mars à 14h30. Drouot Richelieu - Salle 5 - 9, rue Drouot 75009 Paris

Lot 223. A gilt-bronze figure of Avalokiteshvara, attributed by inscription to the Tenth Karmapa Chöying Dorje, Eastern Tibet or Yunnan Province, 17th Century. Estimate 200,000 — 300,000 USD. Photo: Sotheby's.

Himalayan Art Resources item no. 13400.
Height: 6  3/8  in. (16.2 cm)

Exhibited: "Masterworks: Jewels of the Collection", Rubin Museum of Art, 4 February 2015–11 January 2016 and 10 February 2016–16 January 2017

Literature: I. Alsop, 'Sculpture of Chöying Dorjé', in K. Debreczeny, The Black Hat Eccentric: Artistic Visions of the Tenth Karmapa, New York, 2012, p. 219, fig. 8.9.
I. Alsop, The Sculpture of Chöying Dorjé, Tenth Karmapa, asianart.com, 2013, fig. 8.9.
W. Luo, 'A Survey of a Willow-branch Guanyin Attributed to the Tenth Karmapa in the Palace Museum and Related Questions', in K. Debreczeny and G. Tuttle eds., The Tenth Karmapa & Tibet’s Turbulent Seventeenth Century, Chicago, 2016, p. 161, fig. 7.5.

Note: This sculpture of Avalokiteshvara holding a willow branch is one of only seven sculptures with inscriptions that attribute them to Chöying Dorje, the brilliant and eccentric tenth incarnation of the Karmapa lineage, one of the three most important Lamas of the Tibetan Buddhist tradition.

Among this group of seven inscribed sculptures, this one is unusual in being one of two very similar sculptures of the same subject. The other inscribed example of a willow-branch Guanyin or Avalokiteshvara is now in the Palace Museum, Beijing. Both are about the same size and are in a very similar style. It is very likely that the tenth Karmapa made both of these during his long exile from central Tibet, when he stayed in Lijiang in northern Yunnan.

Both sculptures portray Avalokiteshvara holding a willow branch, or the “Willow-branch Guanyin”, a form of Avalokiteshvara popular in China during the late Sui (ca. 581-618) and the early Tang (618-906) dynasties.[i]

Avalokiteshvara is portrayed standing in a straight and frontal posture, grasping a willow branch in his right hand at shoulder level, while his left hand holds a jar at his waist. He is dressed in full robes, which include scarves that fall on either side of his body from his forearms to his feet. He wears a three- or five –leafed crown; long cloth lappets are attached to the ends of the crown over each ear which fall over the shoulders. His jewelry is striking, featuring an simple necklace with a circular large pendant hanging against his chest and an elaborate chain-like ornament that falls from each shoulder to meet in front of his body just below the waist, passing through a ring and looping down to the knees and then slightly rising again to the back of the robe, where it disappears, not being visible on the rear of the sculpture.

The two inscribed versions of this deity are very similar, differing only slightly in size (the Palace Museum sculpture is slightly smaller); in the position of the inscription: on the Palace Museum sculpture it is found on the back of the robe, whereas here it is around the base; and in the treatment of the eyes, which in the Palace Museum version are inlaid silver. Otherwise the two are almost identical, and strongly resemble other images of this form of the deity, all Chinese and most dated to late Sui–Tang dynasties.[ii]

This particular iconography appears to be unique to China. As Luo Wenhua notes: “…there have never been any traces found of willow-branch Guanyin in India, and this form of Avalokiteshvara was supposedly created in China around the sixth century, possibly composed of Indian Buddhist iconographic elements and Chinese Taoist medical beliefs.”[iii] Popular during the late Sui to early Tang periods, this form gradually died out, surviving only in few outer regions, particularly in Yunnan, where it survived until about the thirteenth century. [iv]

The recent history of the figure in the Palace Museum, which was purchased by the museum in 1957, illustrates the confusion that often surrounds the work of Chöying Dorje. It was originally catalogued as Tang dynasty at the time of the purchase and was later published by Li Jinjie as late Sui or early Tang dynasty.[v] When another Chinese scholar, Jin Shen, presented the sculpture at a conference on Tibetan art in 2002, he hypothesized that it was a 12th or 13th century copy of a Sui dynasty sculpture, possibly cast by a Nepalese craftsman (because of the high copper content alloy typical of the Nepalese). When he showed a slide of the back of the sculpture with the Tibetan inscription “rje btsun chos dbyings rdo rje’i phyag bzo”, Tibetologists at the conference recognized this as  “a work made by the venerable Chöying Dorje”, and since then the sculpture became known as a work of the tenth Karmapa.

These two figures are striking in their contrast to the other images by Chöying Dorje attributed to him by inscription. With the exception of a small silver image of the ninth Karmapa, the other inscribed Chöying Dorje images are remarkable for their highly idiosyncratic style and mysterious iconography, whereas these two are faithful to a known and well-defined iconography.

The contrast can be readily seen when comparing these images of the willow-branch Avalokiteshvara to a Chöying Dorje sculpture from the collection of Ulrich von Schroeder sold at Bonhams Hong Kong in November 2016. This enigmatic figure bears and inscription almost identical to that found on the two willow-branch Guanyins: “rje btsun chos dbyings rdo rje'i phyag bzo (a work made by the venerable Chöying Dorje)”.

But whereas the identity of the willow-branch figures is clear and indisputable, the von Schroeder collection figure has been variously described ever since it first appeared in an advertisement by then owner Adrian Maynard in 1987, where it was described as “Bronze figure of Kubera; Nepalese, 6/7th c.”[vi] It appeared in Sotheby’s New York sale of 17 June 1993, lot 4, where it was described as “A Nepalese bronze figure of Vajrapani, Licchavi, circa 7th-8th c.”, where it remained unsold; it was offered again and was sold in Sotheby’s New York of 30 November 1994, lot 335. In 2001, then in the collection of Ulrich and Heidi von Schroeder, it was published by von Schroeder as a Yarlung dynasty (7th-8th c) Tibetan sculpture, described as a "Composite Image with Aspects of Vajrapani, Kubera, and Possibly Hayagriva."[vii] I have always found it very difficult to determine the intended identity and have used the simple description, “Standing male figure”.[viii]

The other sculptures produced by Chöying Dorje and attributed to him by inscription are similarly enigmatic and difficult to easily identify within the iconographic canon. But this figure is clearly and unmistakably a portrayal of Avalokiteshvara holding a willow branch, or the willow-branch Guanyin.

As I have written in previous essays, I believe that the tenth Karmapa's art changed through the various periods of his life. From the biographical sources we perceive that his younger years—when he was largely unschooled and perhaps less aware of the strictures of standardized iconography and the weight of previous traditions—may have been a period of visionary creativity. The visions that his biographer ascribed to him occurred before he was twenty-six years old, and it may be that his most liberated sculptures—those seen in the von Schroeder figure and related figures of a similarly enigmatic nature—were done then, while in later years some of his production, such as this willow-branch Guanyins and its pair in the Palace Museum, would appear almost conventional in comparison. Of course, until we know more about the evolution of his art, this must remain conjecture.[ix] But this explanation of the trajectory of the 10th Karmapa’s career as a sculptor, would suggest that these two sculptures are part of his later work.

Chöying Dorje’s preference for the Kashmir style and the inclusion of elements of that style in his sculpture has been often noted, and even in sculptures where the identity of the figure may be obscure, elements harking back to early Indian models can be found.[x] But in this figure they are entirely absent, rather we find a very standard iconography drawn from early Chinese sculpture. Why did Chöying Dorje decide to make two figures which so faithfully followed this iconography, an iconography which, at the time he made them, was already archaic?

Surely the answer must lie in the circumstances of his long stay in Lijiang, where he sought refuge after fleeing central Tibet in 1645, after his political patron, the king of Tsang, was defeated by the forces of the Mongols allied to the Fifth Dalai Lama.

He stayed in Lijiang under the patronage of the Naxi tusi Mu Zeng (r. 1598-1624) and his son, Mu Yi (r. 1624-1669). Chöying Dorje stayed in Lijiang for 25 years, from 1642 to 1673, and only returned to central Tibet for the last year of his life. During this period, he cooperated with his devout Buddhist patrons to establish numerous Karma Kagyu monasteries in the Lijiang region, and bring many of his Karma Kagyu colleague and pupils to the area. He continued his prolific output of paintings as well, and one can surmise that this sculpture and its fellow in the Palace Museum were made during this long sojourn so far away from his home in central Tibet. The willow-branch Avalokiteshvara survived as a type in this area of Yunnan for several centuries after it disappeared in the more important centers of Chinese Buddhism, and it may be that he encountered this form of Avalokiteshvara there. Perhaps an ancient statue was an important object of devotion in one or more of the families that sheltered him and absorbed his teachings. He may have been asked to make a copy for one or more of those families. We know he made at least two, and perhaps the one in the Palace Museum, with its silver eyes reminiscent of some Kashmir sculptures, was one he kept for his own collection, or that of his faithful attendant Kuntu Zangpo.

Through the sculptures and paintings Chöying Dorje left behind we are able to make contact with this genius of Tibetan art, and gradually his story, and his art, are reemerging from the past.

Essay by Ian Alsop

Sotheby's. Indian, Himalayan & Southeast Asian Works of Art Including Property from The Cleveland Museum of Art, New York, 15 Mar 2017, 10:00 AM

Lot 213. A large gilt-bronze figure of Buddha Shakyamuni, Tibet, 14th-15th Century. Estimate 150,000 — 200,000 USD. Photo: Sotheby's.

Himalayan Art Resources item no. 13392.
Height: 12 ¼ in. (31.5 cm)

Provenance: Nikolaus Sonne Fine Arts, Berlin, 2 February 2002.

Note: This very fine and large-scale sculpture of Buddha Shakyamuni is a testament to the powerful legacy of the Newari aesthetic imported into Tibet from the Kathmandu Valley in the medieval period. 

Displaying tremendous power and presence, this figure demonstrates the marriage of classical Nepalese and Tibetan sculptural elements in its luxuriant gilding, elegant beading and engraving, the cold gilding of the face and use of polychromy, and delicate use of semi-precious stone inlay, as evidenced by the now missing urna at forehead center. 

This powerful and iconic bronze depicting Buddha Shakyamuni in the earth-touching gesture or bhumisparsha mudra recalls the moment of his Enlightenment, in which he called upon the earth as his witness. The Nepalese influence is strongly demonstrated in the wide forehead with straight hairline, the gilt and domed ushnisha, the urna with cavity for stone inlay, the short neck, the broad and muscular shoulders with torso narrowing to a defined waist.

Compare the elegant hem, drape and twist of the Buddha’s sanghati along the upper arm and body with left shoulder exposed, with fourteenth century bronzes from the Nepalese school in Tibet, see. U. von Schroeder, Buddhist Sculptures in Tibet, Vol. II, p. 962—3, figs. 231A and 231C.

Sotheby's. Indian, Himalayan & Southeast Asian Works of Art Including Property from The Cleveland Museum of Art, New York, 15 Mar 2017, 10:00 AM

Bella Hadid wearing Boghossian Les Merveilles Creole diamond hoop earrings. 

Boghossian Les Merveilles Creole hoop 196 diamonds (19.66 carats) earrings.

Bella Hadid wearing Boghossian Les Merveilles drop diamond earrings.

Boghossian Les Merveilles drop earrings with 140 blue sapphires weighing 11.30 carats in white gold.

Twist lamps by Inshovid

Shakyamuni Buddha, Eastern Wei dynasty (534-550 AD) © Shanxi Provincial Museum

Shakyamuni Buddha, Northern Zhou dynasty, 569 AD, Jishan County © Shanxi Provincial Museum

Shakyamuni Buddha, Northern Zhou dynasty (557-581 AD), Wanrong County © Shanxi Provincial Museum

Although both of these statues were created during the Northern Zhou dynasty, they are markedly different in their overall appearance, carving, physiognomy, robes, and hair. The figure on the first wears a monk's robe, while the figure on the second wears Chinese court costume and a different hair treatment (the Buddha's hair is canonically shown with individual small curls, as on the figure at first).

Northern China was a crossroads at this time, and different artistic traditions are evidently at work in these two statues, which were found in adjoining counties.

Standing Bodhisattva,  Northern Qi dynasty (550-577 AD), Pingyao County © Shanxi Provincial Museum

Shakyamuni Buddha,  Northern Qi dynasty (550-577 AD), Kaihua Temple, Taiyuan © Shanxi Provincial Museum

The bodhisattva on the first, shares his hairstyle with the Northern Zhou Buddha from Wanrong County (above); his face, however, seems Mongolian with its prominent epicanthic folds, bow-curved eyebrows, and a protruding button-chin.

The Buddha on the right, on the other hand, has many stylistic affinities to the Northern Zhou Buddha from Jishan County (previous above).

Buddhist Septad, Northern Qi dynasty, 550-577AD © Shanxi Provincial Museum

Shakyamuni Buddha is seated on a lotus throne below a mandorla with flying apsarasas. He is flanked on either side by three pairs of standing figures: disciples Ananda and Kasyapa, a pair of bodhisattvas, and another pair of attendants. Two smaller disciples kneel on lotus flowers below the Buddha's throne, facing a lotus-bud jewel (the cintamani, symbolizing the dharma) that is elevated by a telamon. The overall symmetry of the piece is broken only by the Buddha's different mudras (abhaya with his right hand, varada with his left) and by the dissimilar poses of two lions at the base of the composition. The far ends of the base are occupied by two standing bodhisattvas, whose heads are now missing.

Standing Bodhisattva, Northern Qi dynasty, 550-577 AD © Shanxi Provincial Museum

This statue was collected from Foguang Temple on Mt. Wutai. Painted outlines are seen on its mandorla and the front surface of its base.

Shakyamuni Buddha, Northern Qi dynasty, 550-577 AD © Shanxi Provincial Museum

The cheerful-looking figure is seated on a lotus throne, his hands in abhaya and varada mudra. His head is centered on a lotus mandorla, which in this case probably symbolizes the Buddha's enlightenment. The statue was originally painted and gilded.

Shakyamuni Buddha, Northern Qi dynasty, 550-577 AD © Shanxi Provincial Museum

The imposing countenance of this Buddha, with its mysteriously narrowed eyes, provides another example of the wide stylistic variation of these Northern Qi-dated statues (see above). The treatment of the hair is like several, but not all, of the previous examples.

Shakyamuni Buddha, Tang dynasty, reign of Wu Zetian, 703 AD © Shanxi Provincial Museum

The Buddha's face projects an air of serene inwardness; the figure's closed eyes, with their exaggerated upper lids, give the impression that he is looking within himself, in deep meditation.

Ananda, Tang dynasty, 752 AD © Shanxi Provincial Museum

This statue of Shakyamuni's youngest disciple was collected from Foguang Temple on Mt. Wu Tai, the same location as the Northern Qi bodhisattva seen above. Ananda is traditionally honored as the disciple who compiled the sutras, in which task he was aided by his flawless memory. His pose, as seen here, is usually interpreted as listening to the Buddha's discourse or mentally rehearsing what he has heard. As the Disciple of Wisdom, he is often paired in sculptural groups with Manjusri (the Bodhisattva of Wisdom). Similarly, on Buddha's other side, (Maha)Kasyapa, the Disciple of Action, is often paired with Samantabhadra, the Bodhisattva of Action. 

The statue is made of white marble. A thin layer of paint, with darker horizontal bands, is visible on the outer robe.

Amitabha Buddha, Tang dynasty, 726 AD © Shanxi Provincial Museum

The Buddha of the Western Paradise is surrounded by a halo upon which seven other buddhas are seated on lotus flowers. These probably represent seven "historical Buddhas" who are associated with Amitabha as the Buddhas of ages past.

Shakyamuni Buddha, Tang dynasty © Shanxi Provincial Museum

This representation of the Buddha seems exceptionally lifelike, when compared to the stylized features of most other statues of him; it could almost be modeled on an actual person. The fleshiness of this face, with its soft chin almost disappearing into the plump jowls and neck, is quite striking.

Shakyamuni Buddha, Tang dynasty © Shanxi Provincial Museum

Our final example from the Tang dynasty is Shakyamuni sitting in bhumisparsha (hand "touching the earth") in front of a carved and painted double mandorla. The serene face is almost mask-like, with narrow curved eye-slits and exaggerated creases at the corners of the lip. The figure's hair is arranged in a series of wave-like folds.

Stone Slab with Bodhisattva, Northern Song dynasty (960-1127 AD) © Shanxi Provincial Museum

The bodhisattva is probably Avalokiteshvara, who is shown as the protector of numerous small figures who are engaged in various activities (banqueting, right; menaced by dangerous animals, left; adoring the bodhisattva, bottom). The slab is carved in relief, with an undecorated background.

Arhat, Northern Song dynasty (960-1127 AD) © Shanxi Provincial Museum

Everything about this Arhat proclaims his fierce determination to protect the dharma. His furrowed brow, narrowed gaze, downturned lips, his left fist crossing his abdomen, his right hand firmly planted upon his knee, and his "Western" (spread-seated) posture all display his unmovable resolve and devotion to this duty.

Standing Guanyin, Five Dynasties Period (907-1125 AD) © Shanxi Provincial Museum

The slender Bodhisattva of Compassion, by now obviously female, holds a water jar in her right hand. She is crowned by an image of Amitabha Buddha, her spiritual "father." The iconography of this devotional image of the savior goddess is one of her most popular representations.

Head of a Bodhisattva, Jin Dynasty (1115-1234 AD) © Shanxi Provincial Museum

The bodhisattva carries an image of a standing Buddha on its elaborate headdress. Since Amitabha is normally shown sitting in a cross-legged posture, the Buddha might not be Amitabha and the bodhisattva might not be Avalokiteshvara.

Seated Bodhisattva, Ming Dynasty (1388-1644 AD) © Shanxi Provincial Museum

The slender bodhisattva is made of painted wood. There is a seated Buddha in the figure's crown, that would normally be sufficient to identify this statue as Avalokiteshvara. However, the the Buddha is making an esoteric mudra, and hence can't be identified for certain as Amitabha, so this bodhisattva can't be identified for certain as Avalokiteshvara.

Lot 18. Olivier Debré (1920-1999), Jaune du cap vert, 1986. Huile sur toile signée, datée, titrée et dédicacée à Claude et Michèle Harel au dos, 50 x 61 cm. Estimation : 7 000 - 9 000 €. Photo Millon 

Provenance : Collection Claude et Michèle Harel

Toile peinte à l'occasion de la visite faite par l'artiste en avril 1986 à Claude Harel, alors ambassadeur de France à Dakar, Sénégal

Millon. Les maîtres de l'abstraction; Autour de la collection Claude & Michèle Harel, lundi 06 mars à 14h30. Drouot Richelieu - Salle 5 - 9, rue Drouot 75009 Paris

Lot 19. Olivier Debré (1920-1999), Vert gris pâle tache bleu jaune, Mont Sorak, Corée, 1983. Huile sur toile signée, datée et titrée au dos, 33 x 24,5 cm. Estimation : 3 000 - 4 000 €. Photo Millon

Provenance: Collection Claude et Michèle Harel

Lot 20. Olivier Debré (1920-1999), Le jaune du Platane, 1990. Huile sur toile signée, datée, titrée et dédicacée à Claude et Michèle Harel au dos, 24 x 19 cm. Estimation : 2 000 - 3 000 €. Photo Millon

Provenance : Collection Claude et Michèle Harel

Lot 21. Olivier Debré (1920-1999), Loire grise légère, Touraine, 1987. Huile sur toile signée, datée, titrée et dédicacée à Claude et Michèle Harel au dosn 60 x 73 cm. Estimation : 8 000 - 10 000€. Photo Millon

Provenance : Collection Claude et Michèle Harel

Ewer, Vietnam, Lý dynasty, 11th-early 13th century. Stoneware with translucent ivory glaze. H x Diam (overall): 7.5 x 9.7 cm (2 15/16 x 3 13/16 in. The Dr. Paul Singer Collection of Chinese Art of the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian Institution; a joint gift of the Arthur M. Sackler Foundation, Paul Singer, the AMS Foundation for the Arts, Sciences, and Humanities, and the Children of Arthur M. Sackler. Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, RLS1997.48.1675  © 2017 Smithsonian Institution

Bowl, Vietnam, Lý or Trần dynasty, 13th century, Hai Duong province, Red River Delta kilns. Stoneware with celadon glaze. H x W x D: 9 x 20 x 20 cm (3 9/16 x 7 7/8 x 7 7/8 in). Purchase — Charles Lang Freer Endowment. Freer Gallery of Art, F1968.59 © 2017 Smithsonian Institution

Celadon glaze appears on ceramics made in northern Vietnam as early as the first century. This bowl shows the distinctive celadon glaze developed by Vietnamese potters working with the pale gray, fine-grained clay of the Red River Delta.

Bowl with inverted rim, Lý or Trần dynasty, 13th-14th century, Vietnam, Hai Duong province, Red River Delta kilns. Stoneware with ivory glaze. H x Diam (overall): 8.6 x 18.8 cm (3 3/8 x 7 3/8 in). urchase — funds provided by Betty and John R. Menke. Freer Gallery of Art, F1998.14 © 2017 Smithsonian Institution