Featured Chinese carved wood statue

Found this beauty thrifting. Hand carved hard wood...finely done. About 14" tall. Wondering how old it is...how do you tell? Thanks to all for any info.

 

I think thats Guan Yin. Any Jewelry would know lets hope she sees it.

 

I'd wager Johnny is right on with this assessment. I'm sure AJ will enlighten us.

 

Yep, Johnny is absolutely right, it is Guanyin.
Guanyin is the Chinese version of Boddhisattva Avalokiteshvara, the Buddha aspect of compassion. In China Avalokiteshvara (male) was equated with a local pre-Buddhist female deity with a similar meaning.
Because of this mix Guanyin always looks androgynous.

Your Guanyin is depicted with a fish.

It is the son of the powerful Dragon King, who was caught by a fisherman after he had shape-shifted into a fish. On dry land he could not shift back into dragon shape, so he was about to be sold when Guanyin intervened and recued the dragon prince.
As a reward the Dragon King gave Guanyin the Pearl of Light, which shines forever.

Your thrift find is indeed a beauty. My age guesstimate would be mid 20th century.

 

I still am confused on dating this..I found this online and it looks very similar to mine. Same wood, styling and height. Could mine be 19th century? This is the post...

Longan wood Guan Yin, goddess of mercy statue (38 cm) - China - 19th century (Qing dynasty) it sold for $650.

 

Close...but no cigar....

 

Looking at the underside may shed some light on the age.

 

Here is a pic of the bottom. Hope it helps.

 

looks like no one even bothered to sand the saw marks...

 

Thanks. I’m no expert on wood stuff, by any stretch of the imagination. But if I had to guess based on the underside, I’d note the lack of having been slid around, lack of edge-damage, I’d note how the bottom still has a coat of something, and not much drying/cracking. I’m guessing it is no more than 50 years old.

 

Missing its fingers probably hurts the value significantly . The bottom convinced me its newish as well.

 

It had a piece of felt glued on the bottom. That is the coating you see. The felt looked quite old.

 

Here is the pic of the bottom of 19th century statue.

 

I'm having the fingers restored.

 

Thanks, but what guarantees you that one is actually 19th C?

 

It was sold at a reputable auction.

 

Mine is similar...not exact....I assume most of these were one offs.

 

Yes.
They were made by two different artists, though....at different time periods.
While I find yours to be very nice....the other is sublime.
IMO..