177. RARE GRANDE TÊTE D'UN BODHISATTVA EN BOIS LAQUÉ OR Début de la Dynastie Ming A RARE LARGE GILT-LACQUERED WOOD HEAD OF A BODHISATTVA Early Ming dynasty Carved in the round from a single block of wood, the full face with half-closed downcast eyes below high arched brows, with a broad nose and small pursed lips and gently curved mouth enhanced with red pigment, flanked by pendulous earlobes, the hair neatly drawn back and gathered in a high chignon, a string of beads keeping fine strands of hair behind his ears, the face and neck gilt-lacquered, traces of black and red pigment, wood base. A radiocarbon test (c-14 analysis) of a wood sample is consistent with the dating of this head, with a 59,1 % probability of a date between 1446 and 1525 A.D. 35cm (13 3/4in) high (without stand). (2). 明早期 漆金木雕菩薩首 Provenance: Dr. Ernst Hauswedell, Hamburg, 17 November 1952, lot 170 Collection of Carl Radatz (1912-2004) Acquired from his collection in 1968 by Wolfang Bock, Berlin, acquired from him in 1998 來源： 漢堡Ernst Hauswedell博士珍藏，1952年11月17日，編號170 Carl Radatz（1912-2004）珍藏 柏林Wolfang Bock於1968年入藏，現藏家於1998年向其購入 A very similar carved wooden head is published by John Berwald, Facing East - Expressions in Chinese Art, London, 2001, no.22. - A similar early Ming figure of the 'Queen Mother', which displays the same brown patina over gilt lacquer on the face is illustrated in Ancient Chinese Sculptural Treasures: Carvings in Wood, Kaohsiung, 1998, pl.42. Compare also a Ming dynasty wooden head of a luohan in the Freer Gallery of Art, Washington, DC (accession no. F1917.248).