A bronze figure of Guanyin, Ming dynasty with archaistic characters to back.
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Goddess of compassion, richly adorned, sitting cross-legged with a motherly smile. She is holding a ritual vessel and a pearl in her hands. Height 27 cm. Height with later wooden stand 31 cm.
Tarnished.
Provenance
The Collection of Poul Nortung (1905-1973).
The Manufacturer Poul Nortungs passion for Chinese and Japanese Works of Art started at an early age, influenced by his father, master bookbinder Frederik Nortung, who collected Oriental Ceramics, Literature and Works of Art. He himself started to expand the family collection during the years 1935-1950. Poul Nortung owned a Danish metal company known as LUXOR. The antiques in his collection were often acquired in London, Paris and Germany, or through his friend, the antique dealer Canova Skånstrom.
Nortung aquired it from Henning Haslund-Christensen (1896-1948). A well known Danish orientalist, travel writer, anthropologist and explorer of Mongolia. He traveled to Uriankhai in Outer Mongolia in 1923. And from then on led and participated on several expeditions in Asia. In 1927-30 he rode with the Swedish Geologist Sven Hedin through Mongolia and Xinjiang. During his travels he gathered information about folk traditions and arte-facts for Ethnographic Collections of the National Museum in Copenhagen. He led the Danish Central Asian Expeditions during the years 1936-1939, that had the purpose to document the Mongolian culture. 1947 his travels took him to Afghanistan from Nuristan in the east to Herat in the west, he died and was buried in Kabul. He got several of his literary works over Mongolia Published.
Literature
The Third Danish Expedition to Central Asia: Its Work in the Himalayas", The Himalayan Journal 18. Authored by H.R.H. Prince Peter of Greece and Denmark, published in 1954.
H. Hasland Christensens Obituary in the Journal of The Royal Central Asian Society, Volume 36, Issue 1, 1949.
