Expert authentication: Dr. Chang Qing has authenticated this lot as being in the typical style of the Northern Song period, noting its female face influenced by Tang-style bodhisattva figures and the charmingly abstract carving of the crown's details. These features exemplify the high-level craftsmanship of the era. The broad crown on the head is reminiscent of Northern Song bodhisattva images found in southern China, particularly Sichuan province (see literature comparison for an example at Ball State University). A notarized copy of Dr. Chang's expertise, dated April 20, 2021, in the State of New York, accompanies this lot.
Dr. Chang holds a Ph.D. in Art History from the University of Kansas and has held prestigious positions, including post-doctoral fellow at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and senior research fellow at the Freer and Sackler Galleries of the Smithsonian Institute. He has conducted extensive research in China, participating in archaeological excavations at various historical sites. Dr. Chang is the author of several influential works, including Compassionate Beings in Metal and Stone: Chinese Buddhist Sculptures from The Freer Gallery of Art (2016) and Light of the Buddha in the Desert: Essays on Mogao Grottoes in Dunhuang from 5th-14th Centuries (2012). He is currently a professor at Arts College, Sichuan University.

China, 960-1127. Finely detailed with sensuous volumes, the figure features a full, fleshy face with downcast eyes, arched eyebrows, and gently smiling bow-shaped lips. A circular recessed urna adorns the forehead, while long, pendulous earlobes with floral studs are framed by neatly incised hair. The tall, elaborate crown is centered by an image of Buddha Amitabha, flanked by two disciples, with two smaller seated Buddhas on either side amid interlacing cloud scrolls.

Provenance: From a private collection in New York, United States.
Condition: Very good condition, commensurate with age. Extensive wear, signs of weathering and erosion, encrustations, obvious losses, few nicks, scratches. Extensive remnants of ancient gilt and pigments. Displaying exceptionally well.

Dimensions: Height 99 cm (excl. stand), 126 cm (incl. stand)

Mounted on an associated stand. (2)

Literature comparison:
Compare a closely related sandstone head of a Bodhisattva, Sichuan, 10^th-12^th century, in the David Owsley Museum of Art, Ball State University, accession number L2014.007.000. Compare a related gray limestone head of Avalokiteshvara, dated to the Song dynasty, illustrated by Osvald Sirén, Chinese Sculpture from the Fifth to the Fourteenth Century, London, 1970, pl. 563C.

Auction result comparison:
Type: Closely related
Auction: Bonhams London, 17 May 2018, lot 64
Price: GBP 62,500 or approx. EUR 101,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A rare limestone head of Guanyin, 12^th/13^th century
Expert remark: Compare the closely related modeling and manner of carving with similar crown centered by Amitabha amid interlacing scroll. Note the much smaller size (43.3 cm).