Country Group: China, Japan and Korea

Item id: 1050

Very special old Korean Buddha (or possibly from southern China). Clearly quite old (and verified as authentic by a curator at the Smithsonian many years ago by the previous owner). This very substantial one of a kind piece was purchased in the early 1990’s by the previous owner at a very strong price from a large Palm Beach Estate in which most of the items were collected from the 1920's to the 1950's. I was fortunate to be able to purchase a group of pieces from the previous owner at an opportune moment, and while it is certainly not inexpensive, I am able to offer it for less than it sold for 10 to 15 years ago. There is the large Quanyin surrounded by 8 small seated Buddhas with the remarkable large face/head at the top(the hair goes all the way around to the back). There are 10 sitting Buddhas around the lower outer base (separately cast), and 4 semi-visible Buddhas on the 4 sides of the pole (I think that is 27 Buddha images in all). On the back are 4 medallions - 1 clearly has a turtle and another has perhaps another turtle or lizard. The other two are hard to see. The center of the back almost looks like a spine and looks as if other ritual medallions or meaningful pieces or symbols were melted in to it. It is remarkably heavy at 100.5 ounces and is a bit over 13 inches tall by 5 inches at its widest. It looks to be extremely old, and I believe that it is- I have NO idea how to date it. It has good surface wear, and I suspect that it also was buried for a considerable period of time. A rare and powerful object of devotion.