Christie's Asian Art departments are honored to present an exceptional collection of 32 masterpieces from all corners of Asia, representing Buddhism, Hinduism, Daoism, and Shintoism, including a special lot by Hiroshi Sugimoto.  The works of art included in the sale range from the 2nd century CE to today.

The sale comprises sculptures, paintings, manuscripts and votive textiles with highlights including a large and important gray schist figure of a Bodhisattva, Gandhara, 2nd/3rd century (estimate: $600,000-800,000); a bronze figure of Amoghasiddhi Buddha, Tibet, 1200 AD, (estimate: $400,000-$600,000); a polychrome and gilded wood figure of Nyoirin Kannon, the bodhisattva who grants desires, Japan, Kamakura period with documentation dated 1304 (estimate: $200,000-$300,000); a magnificent gilt-bronze seated figure of the Medicine Buddha, Bhaisajyaguru, China, Ming dynasty,  Yongle six-character mark inscribed in a line of the period (1403-1425) (estimate: $2,000,000-$3,000,000); a seated Kongo Satta (vajrasattva), Japan, Kamakura period, 13th-14th century (estimate: $400,000-$600,000); and a very rare gilt-bronze figure of Amitabha Buddha, China, Dali Kingdom, Yunnan Province, 11th-12th century (estimate: $1,500,000-2,500,000). 

The final work of the sale is Sea of Buddha, 1995, from renowned artist Hiroshi Sugimoto (b. 1948).  This unique installation of a lithograph and 6 silver gelatin prints, framed and mounted under glass, was created by the artist for this exhibition and sale (estimate: $200,000-300,000).  In 1994, after seven years of lobbying for permission, Sugimoto, was allowed to photograph inside Kyoto's famous 13th century Buddhist temple Sanjusangendo (Hall of Thirty-three Bays).  Sugimoto captured the illuminating statues – the monumental seated Thousand-armed Kannon, and one thousand life-size standing cypress-wood figures of the Thousand-armed Kannon placed in rows on risers to either side of the main deity.