RARE TÊTE DE GUANYIN EN PIERRE SCULPTÉEDynastie des Qi du Nord (550-577) A RARE STONE HEAD OF GUANYIN Northern Qi Dynasty (550-577 AD) Exquisitely carved with eyes downcast in a serene expression, with high arched brown, raised angular eyes and straight nose above the sensuous bud mouth and well-defined chin, the rounded forehead below the raised centrally parted hair flanked by the pair of pendulous ears, crowned with a high tiara with a central figure of a seated Buddha before a lotus petal and within an arch, flanked by a pair of coiled dragon-like beasts, triple-tassels and a flower with two angular terminals, with traces of black, red and copper-green pigments, stand. 25cm (10in) high. (2). Provenance: Robert Rousset, Paris (1901-1981), acquired prior to 1935 Jean-Pierre Rousset, Paris (1936-2021) This serene head represents the bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara also known as Guanyin. The sublimely carved oval face is counterbalanced by a tall crown richly carved with palmettes and foliate motifs, centred by a figure of Amitabha Buddha. The political and social turmoil that apanied dynastic changes in the 6th century significantly impacted Chinese Buddhist practice in several ways which are reflected in Buddhist art of the period. In their search for refuge beyond the chaos of the material world, a variant form of Pure Land Buddhism, in which devotion to Amitabha (or a bodhisattva such as Avalokiteshvara) allowed adherents to be reborn in Sukhavati (the Western Paradise of the Buddha Amitabha), grew in popularity. Consequently, images of bodhisattvas proliferated in the third quarter of the 6th century, as demonstrated by the present lot. pare with the face on a related statue of a bodhisattva standing on a lotus pedestal, dated to 576, illustrated by O.Siren, Chinese Sculpture: From the Fifth to the Fourteenth Century , vol.1, Bangkok, 1998, pl.230 (reprinted from the 1925 edition). See also similarly arched brows and squarish face on a statue of a seated bodhisattva , Northern Qi dynasty, illustrated in passion and Fascination , Beijing, 2003, p.42. A related sandstone head of Guanyin, Northern Qi/Sui dynasty, was sold at Sotheby's Hong Kong, 1 April 2019, lot 3055. 北齊 約六世紀 石雕觀音首 來源： 巴黎Robert Rousset（1901-1981）舊藏，於1935年前入藏 巴黎Jean-Pierre Rousset（1936-2021）舊藏