A WHITE MARBLE RELIEF DEPICTING EKADASHAMUKHA AVALOKITESHVARA Tibetan-Chinese, 16th-17th century or earlier. The eleven-headed eight-armed deity standing atop a lotus base with his primary hands folded in front of his chest, the others radiating and holding lotus, rosary, dharma wheel, bow and arrow, and water pot. Clad in a long, flaring dhoti secured with a pendant belt, an antelope skin draped across his shoulders and further adorned with necklaces and other jewelry. The faces neatly detailed, the tenth head in a fierce expression, the highest head that of Amitabha, backed by a halo. Provenance: Kunsthandel Ludwig Bretschneider, Munich, Germany circa 1978. Old German private collection, acquired from the above. Ludwig Bretschneider was a noted German art dealer, specializing in tribal and ethnographic art, most active between the 1950s and 1980s in Munich, Bavaria. Condition: Wear, dents and nicks, scratches, signs of erosion and weathering, several structural cracks with old fills, remnants of pigment. Overall commensurate with age and as expected from a marble carving almost half a millennium old. Weight: 1,449 g Dimensions: Height 23.8 cm The bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara is the patron deity of Tibet, embodying the compassion of all the Buddhas of the ten directions and three times. In the standing form with eleven faces he is closely associated with Lakshmi. Expert's note: Although this depiction appears quite frequently in bronze statues, it is exceedingly rare in other materials, such as wood, or marble, as only few such examples have entered museum databases yet, and not a single other example made from marble has ever been recorded before. Literature comparison: Compare a Tibetan bronze figure, dated to the 15th century, at Christie's New York, 22 March 2011, lot 341; a Tibetan polychrome painted wood figure, dated c. 13th century, at Christie's New York, 19 March 2013, lot 353; and a Chinese tablet, dated to the 17th century, in the collection of the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, object number B60M253. 漢白玉浮雕十一首觀音 漢藏，十六至十七世紀。十一首八臂觀音立於蓮花座之上，主手交疊於胸前，其餘的手臂伸展出來，手執蓮花、念珠、法輪、弓箭、淨水瓶。身著長天衣，用吊墜腰帶固定，肩上披著羚羊皮，佩戴者瓔珞和其他珠寶。 面容清秀，第十首神情兇惡，最高処有一座阿彌陀佛像。身後光背。 來源：德國慕尼黑 Ludwig Bretschneider藝廊，約1978年。德國私人舊藏，購於上述藝廊。Ludwig Bretschneider是一位著名的德國藝術品經銷商，專門從事部落文化藝術，在 1950 至 1980 年代在巴伐利亞州慕尼黑頗為活躍。 品相：磨損、凹痕、刻痕、劃痕、侵蝕和風化的跡象，幾條裂縫帶有舊時填充物，有顏料的殘餘。總體上與年齡相稱，正如預期的漢白玉雕刻一樣，有將近五百年的歷史。 重量：1,449 克 尺寸：高 23.8 厘米 專家注釋: 雖然這種描繪經常出現在青銅造像中，但在其他材料中卻極為罕見，例如木材或大理石，因此只有少數這樣的例子進入了博物館收藏，而且之前從來沒有一個大理石造像的先例被記錄過。