Chinese Bodhisattva Bronze, ca. 1650
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GUEST:
I got this at a yard sale maybe five or six years ago. I bought it because I thought it looked really old. I think it's, like, a Chinese Buddha.
APPRAISER:
Was the yard sale in California, or your neighborhood, or elsewhere?
GUEST:
California, yeah.
APPRAISER:
And what did you pay?
GUEST:
$40.
APPRAISER:
You're correct, it's a Chinese Buddha. It's a bodhisattva, it's a diva. It's a female form of Buddha. It is a, uh, an image that was influenced by Tibetan and Nepalese Hindu tantric figures identified as a bodhisattva of light or dawn. She's a multi-armed deity. There are some, some small losses. These are all attributes, and they're mostly Buddhistic symbols. You have a sword here with no blade. You have a hand.
GUEST:
Mm-mm.
APPRAISER:
An attribute missing from my right.
GUEST:
Yup.
APPRAISER:
In the whole, they're mostly present. She's seated in a full lotus position...
GUEST:
Yes.
APPRAISER:
...a tantric position, with hands in mudra, to the center, in blessing. Did you like the, the image as a decorative work of art? Does it... No?
GUEST:
No. I have to admit, no. (laughs) I just thought it looked really old, so it might be something. It's cool, but I wouldn't put it in my house.
APPRAISER:
Okay, where does it currently reside?
GUEST:
In a box in the garage.
APPRAISER:
These are religious objects. These attain merit with worship. These are used by practitioners during worship and meditation...
GUEST:
Okay.
APPRAISER:
...for transcendence. So these are often cast to be elevated. They're to be looked at from below. I suspect you think it was worth more than $40 when you bought...
GUEST:
I do think it was more than $40, but I couldn't tell you.
APPRAISER:
When do you think it may have been made?
GUEST:
I want it to be made in, like, the 1600s?
APPRAISER:
Oh, good, well, good, uh, assumption, or guess, or...
GUEST:
Is it?!
APPRAISER:
Yeah, yeah. So made probably about 1650.
GUEST:
Oh, wow.
APPRAISER:
In China-- this is a late Ming casting. It's gilded bronze.
GUEST:
Okay.
APPRAISER:
A bronze alloy. It would have been cast by an artisan. These were expensive objects. It was likely not an object middle-class Buddhist practitioners could afford in China. It was an upper-class middle family, and it was probably a stretch then. It's actually nicely cast.
GUEST:
Okay.
APPRAISER:
You know, if I was to put a numerical, uh, ranking, it's a six or a seven out of ten. So during the 17th century, they were, they were good, but not great.
GUEST:
Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER:
But this is a better- than-average example.
GUEST:
Oh, really?
APPRAISER:
And I will just point out the, the lovely Indian lotus to the drapery.
GUEST:
Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER:
The feet are nicely cast. The expression should impose or transfer transcendence, compassion. In my opinion, this expression does. You'll see remnants of polychrome. So this sea would have been a blue. As I turn this again, the counter-polychrome to the crown would have been an orange. You had a great eye, you bought well.
GUEST:
So it's legit.
APPRAISER:
It's legit.
GUEST:
Wow.
APPRAISER:
Yeah. So this is hundreds of years old. 300, 350 years old.
GUEST:
Right.
APPRAISER:
Often they become separated. Lotus throne, they're separately cast. This is a great base. This is a great figure. They look great together. I'm not certain they were done together. This gap on either side?
GUEST:
Uh-huh.
APPRAISER:
Usually the fit is a little bit better. I'm certain they were made in the same time frame. I think in an auction setting, a value of $15,000 to $20,000 would be conservative.
GUEST:
Okay. Wow. That's awesome.
APPRAISER:
And in a retail setting, I would imagine it to carry a value of $30,000.
GUEST:
Wow. Okay. Thank you so much.
APPRAISER:
Well-bought.
GUEST:
(laughing) Yeah, apparently.
APPRAISER:
It surprises me that these are still available at yard sales.
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