Chinese Qing Dynasty Marble Guanyin, ca. 1880
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GUEST:
I think this is, um, Guanlin and that she's a bodhisattva.
APPRAISER:
Okay. Okay.
GUEST:
I don't know where she came from, except for that my mother had her. I don't even know who she got it from-- one of her clients.
APPRAISER:
And what did she do?
GUEST:
She was a medium.
APPRAISER:
And what's the earliest memory you have of it?
GUEST:
Maybe 15 years ago.
APPRAISER:
So you're absolutely right. It is the figure of Guanyin, one of the immortals, representative of compassion and mercy.
GUEST:
Mm.
APPRAISER:
So rather than ascending into enlightenment, what Guanyin did is, said, "I'm going to stay behind and help all these suffering people." Guanyin was, uh, is usually shown accompanied by an acolyte, a small figure. Small because of the relative lack of importance compared to Guanyin.
GUEST:
Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER:
You can see that surrounding the figure of the boy is a celestial scarf.
GUEST:
Mm.
APPRAISER:
So it's kind of flowing in these kind of mystical winds. And in fact, if you look at the figure, you see she's dressed in long robes, wearing beads around the neck, has her hand raised in a mudra, and is holding a scepter, which, a scepter, this, in this case, it's a ruyi scepter, which means, essentially, "May your wishes come true."
GUEST:
Oh, lovely.
APPRAISER:
But surrounding this, what do you see?
GUEST:
Water? And waves?
APPRAISER:
Water, but not just water.
GUEST:
Crashing into her?
APPRAISER:
They're crashing into her.
GUEST:
Okay, yeah.
APPRAISER:
What does that represent? Turbulence?
GUEST:
Oh, yes.
APPRAISER:
Adversity?
GUEST:
Yeah, right. Right, and she's peacefully standing there. (chuckles)
APPRAISER:
Exactly, in spite of the swirl...
GUEST:
Oh, right.
APPRAISER:
...of adversity that is surrounding her. And what we can tell from the carving and the material, which is white marble, is that the figure dates to the late Qing dynasty, which would mean late 19th century. So we can see that there are certain kinds of areas of brown discoloration, and just, you know, they're generally all over...
GUEST:
Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER:
...which I think was later from people touching the figure.
GUEST:
Oh.
APPRAISER:
Because this figure is a devotional figure.
GUEST:
Mm.
APPRAISER:
The stand was likely not created at the same time as the figure, because there's not enough wear. It's an attractive Asian hardwood, so we know it was done in Asia, but we don't know when.
GUEST:
Okay.
APPRAISER:
And the figure itself is rather unusual. You rarely get these kind of mid-size carved stone figures that have a uniqueness to them. And the way this is depicted, with the crashing waves and the figure and so on, is a l, deviation from the standard depictions that you usually get in stone of Guanyin. So, is this something that you plan on keeping?
GUEST:
Oh, yes, of course.
APPRAISER:
Well, I think a reasonable insurance figure for this would be in the $10,000 range.
GUEST (laughing): Oh, my goodness! (laughing) That's, that's... That's amazing. (laughs) She's lovely. (laughing): I can't believe she's that lovely. (chuckles) Thank you. (chuckles)
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