Rare Chinese Buddhist statue expected to fetch high price at Paris auction

Photo: Courtesy of Bonhams house

A magnificent and very rare large wooden Chinese Buddha statue is set to go under the hammer at Bonhams in Paris on Tuesday. 

The statue is expected to fetch 1.2 million euros ($1.29 million) at the auction, which marks the first time that Bonhams has held an auction for Chinese art in Paris.

"It was found by a distinguished French family. They inherited it from their grandfather, who died in 1935. It has since been preserved in the same French private collection," Caroline Schulten, head of Chinese art at Bonhams, told the Global Times on Monday, without elaborating on how specifically the statue landed in Europe. 

According to the auction house, this impressive sculpture seated in a contemplative pose depicts the Bodhisattva Guanyin. It was most likely made in the 11th to 12th century during the Jin Dynasty (1115-1234). 

"He has a kind face, the eyes of compassion. It is very alive when people look at it. It makes you calm down and touches people," Schulten said.

This statue was originally in the collection of Chinese collector Paul Houo Ming-tse. This magnificent statue was first recorded in 1930 in Houo's book of antiques. It was later sold in 1932 at the Drouot auction in Paris during a special sale. 

The statue is a truly rare find, especially considering the material from which it is made.

"It's very special because there are not many pieces like this that have survived and the ones that do survive from this period are in museums. It's made of wood and wood is very fragile. Wood can disintegrate over time," explained Schulten. 

She added that the statue "came out of China during a period of time when the country was in turmoil and many of these wood figures were destroyed at the time." Some were sold and this is one of the few that has survived, she said. 

"The legs and hands of this statue were lost. We can only speculate about the reasons for this. It must be emphasized, however, that these statues are large and very difficult to move and store," Schulten said.

"In addition, the fact that they were originally assembled from different pieces of wood, it is likely that the damage we see in the catalog existed long before it left the temple." 

There are probably only a few of this type of statue left in the world, Schulten said, and most of them are in museums.

"This is one of the few that has survived, so it's quite possible that there are more pieces from this group that are still around France or maybe in Belgium or Switzerland," said Schulten.

Bonhams is holding an Asian Art Week in Paris from June 9 to 16, including a Chinese art auction on Tuesday. During this period, more than 100 pieces will go under the hammer, including Buddhist art, porcelain, jade and other fine art.