Six Dynasties art from the Norman A. Kurland collection part one
2 November - 25 November, 2017
Click here to view Norman Kurland discussing his collection
This exhibition features a superb selection of Six Dynasties art (220 to 581 AD) assembled over four decades by Norman A. Kurland, a renowned film and television agent. His focused and scholarly eye has led him to form perhaps the best collection of Six Dynasties art in private hands. The thirty-eight pieces in the current exhibition, though limited primarily to the fifth and sixth centuries, range widely in material – stone sculptures, earthenware figures, gilt-bronze metalwork and glazed ceramics. Highlights include rare examples of Buddhist sculptures, both freestanding and those from imperially sponsored Buddhist cave temples such as Yungang and Gongxian and finely modelled earthenware tomb figures.
Gilt-bronze Avalokiteshvara (Guanyin)
Northern Wei period, inscribed with date corresponding to 516
Avalokiteshvara, the bodhisattva of compassion, also known as Guanyin, was one of the most popular deities in early Buddhist culture. Finely cast and incised with petal and flame details and covered with rich gilding, the forty-eight character inscription on the back indicates that this figure was commissioned in the early sixth century by a Buddhist devotee.
Height: 22.0cm