A fire gilt bronze figure of Longnü. 17th/18th century
A fire gilt bronze figure of Longnü standing on a double lotus and holding a small flaming jewel, with a billowing shawl around her shoulders, the garment borders with scrolls in fine line engraving. Traces of red pigment to the details. 17th/18th century.
Height 50 cm
Longnü (Dragon Girl) is one of the acolytes of Bodhisattva Guanyin, along with Shancai (sank. Sudhana). The source for the Dragon Girl may be found in esoteric texts, which state that Guanyin went to the Dragon Kings's palace to reveal the holy texts, and in gratitude the king¹s daughter presented Guanyin with a precious jewel. Most likely her representation developed from Yunü (Jade Maiden), who along with Jintong (Golden Youth) appears in the iconongraphy of the Jade Emperor. In fact her appearance resembles that of Daoist maidens wearing flowing garments with shawls, a cloud-shape collar and ornate shoes.
This figure of Longü is not just remarkable for its excellent quality of casting and gilding but also for its large size. Being an acolyte to Guanyin, Longnü and Shancai usually are represented one-third to half the size of Guanyin, so we can imagine how large and impressive the statue of Guanyin and the whole group must have been.
Provenance
Private property, California, acquired in San Francisco, CA in the1970s
Sotheby's, New York, 18./19.3.2014, lot 267
Private collection, France