A Very Fine and Large Chinese Painted Carved Wood Head of Guanyin

Lot Details & Additional Photographs

Song dynasty (960-1279) or Yuan dynasty (1271-1368), carved wood head with gesso and pigments, the oval shaped head has full cheeks, a soft chin, pursed lips with traces of red pigment, the well carved known leads to molded arched eyebrows above hooded eyelids inset with engaging glass eyes, the hair in deep lines pulled up to a stylized chignon held with a tiered crown with traces of pigments and post that would have held further carving, probably a small Buddha, traces of black pigments to hair, face is framed by elongated earlobes with holes at lower ends, head with exposed wood base probably cut and removed from a larger full sculpture of the goddess, with a Chait Galleries, New York label to the underside, presented in a custom fitted swivel black lacquer square base.

DOA 24 1/2 x 10 1/2 x 9 3/4 in., Head 21 1/2 x 13 x 10 1/2 in.

From the Collection of Adrienne and John C. Maxwell, Jr. John C. Maxwell Jr. assembled one of the most distinguished private collections of Asian art in the American South, with a particular focus on Chinese, Korean, and Japanese works spanning antiquity through the late imperial period. A financier and respected market analyst by profession, Maxwell developed his interest in Asian art during his military service in Korea in the early 1950s. What began as personal study evolved into a lifelong commitment to collecting, scholarship, and connoisseurship.

The collection formed by Maxwell and his wife Adrienne reflects Maxwell’s highly analytical eye and preference for works possessing strong historical character, refined craftsmanship, and clear cultural significance. Numerous objects from the collection together with their private library of 1,200 scholarly Asian art journals and books were gifted to the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, where they became part of the museum’s Maxwell East Asian Collection.

Chait Galleries, New York

This rare carving from the Song dynasty shows the jiazu technique of wrapping the wood with layers of linen or hemp cloth to prevent the underlying wood from cracking or warping. This technique was used frequently in the Song dynasty with large religious artworks, this head was originally part of a larger Guanyin sculpture.

For examples of other carved wood painted Guanyin sculptures from the Song dynasty, see the Asian Art Museum, San Francisco (B60S24) and in the Isabella Stewart Gardner Musuem (S8w1) on display in the Chinese Room. For a later example at auction from the Ming dynasty, see Bonhams, London, November 2, 2021, Lot 237.

Overall wear and insect damage commensurate with age; areas of what appears to be intentional incisions and repair to eyelids; several breaks and repairs mainly to ears and hair; area of loss to crown; large crack with gapping down posterior left side.