Chinese Gilt Bronze Bodhisattva, ca. 1650
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GUEST:
Well, it's an Asian figure that was my grandmother's. She acquired it probably sometime in the late 1800s, early 1900s. It was given to her by a beau who traveled to Asia extensively and brought her back many objects, and this was one of them. And she displayed it prominently in her home, and then when she passed, my mother had it, and it was prominently displayed in her home, and now I have it. I'm assuming it's brass, but I don't know what it represents. I really know very little about it.
APPRAISER:
Well, this is a Chinese gilt-bronze Buddha. And the gilding's in wonderful condition. It's not been rubbed or worn. These can be somewhat confusing. Often, patinated bronze figures that have been highly polished resemble this glowing, illuminating tone. So at times, one can misidentify a gilt-bronze as one that's been overly cleaned or polished. But the gilding's in very good condition. This is from a school of 33 multi-armed deities. And these represent the bodhisattva of compassion. The plethora, or multitude of arms, originate in Indian Buddhism, but were incorporated by the Chinese. At times, these Buddhas are referred to as the thousand-armed Buddhas. And the multitude of arms are to represent the many ways that this Buddha of compassion will direct, assist, and attempt to guide humanity towards enlightenment. This is from the 17th century.
GUEST:
Wow.
APPRAISER:
Circa 1650. It's in wonderful condition for a bronze from the 17th century. We are missing a few attributes. You're usually missing a few fingers. They usually exhibit some wear. This is a deity, so this would have been raised on a lotus base, likely a double lotus base. So it's fit securely into the base. More than 50% of these multi-armed bodhisattvas that are sold in the marketplace are missing the lotus base. The lotus base does add a lot of value for that reason. This is a wonderful object, wonderful casting. The quality is wonderful. The eyes are strong. The nose is strong. The polychrome to the mouth is still present. There are red lips. The quality of the hands... When you look at a bronze, Chinese bronze, the hands tell you a great deal. So this is a very, very good bronze. The work to the jeweled chest, these are jewels to a chest, and this is wonderful lotus banding to the robe. Very good quality. I'll turn the bronze around, and we'll see the back. There is a corrosive pigment, because there's discoloration in the recesses. Someone may have cleaned it at some point. You also see cleaning solution and/or corrosive pigment to the front. And you should have that cleaned and stabilized. Speaking to value in a retail setting, this would be $40,000.
GUEST:
Wow. I had no idea. Absolutely no idea. That is fabulous.
APPRAISER:
If this did have the original double lotus base, it would probably have a value of about $150,000.
Appraisal Details
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