Guanyin / Kwan Yin Statues for Sale

Antique and Vintage Guanyin Statues for Sale

Shop Guanyin and Kwan Yin statues in bronze, carved wood, porcelain, bone and other materials. Browse the individual sculptures, with prices, photographs, dimensions and condition details. Guanyin is the Chinese form of Avalokiteshvara, the bodhisattva of compassion, and one of the central devotional figures in East Asian Buddhist art.

Materials and construction matter: a Ming or Qing bronze, a large wooden temple figure, a Dehua porcelain image and a later bone tableau belong to different artistic traditions and must be dated from their own material and stylistic evidence.

How Guanyin is identified

Common attributes include a small image of Amitabha in the crown, a water vessel, willow branch, lotus, scroll or rosary. Multi-figure compositions may include attendants such as Shancai and Longnü. Other forms, including child-giving Guanyin and Water-Moon Guanyin, use different iconographic conventions.

Guanyin and Avalokiteshvara

The names describe related traditions, not two unrelated deities. For the wider trans-Asian iconography — including Tibetan Chenrezig, Nepalese forms and Japanese Kannon — see the Avalokiteshvara collection. Chinese objects are also compared with the broader Chinese Buddhist sculpture group.

Age, material and provenance are stated individually. Bone is not described as ivory without evidence, and a devotional subject alone does not establish a period.

Comparing an antique Guanyin statue

Start with the individual attribution and condition report. For a wooden Guanyin, ask which lacquer, gilding or painted areas survive and whether cracks, losses or later repairs affect the figure. For a bronze Guanyin statue, compare the casting, base, surface and any repaired or replaced attributes. For a porcelain Guanyin statue, request close views of fingers, headdress and projecting details, where small losses or repairs may be less obvious in an overall photograph.

Missing attributes can also limit identification. Ask which features support the description and where the seller remains uncertain. An antique date, a later revival and a vintage devotional figure are different catalogue claims; compare them with their own documentation rather than assuming the same age from a similar pose.

Before choosing a Guanyin

Use the sculpture buying checklist and printable object record to organise photographs, condition notes and available ownership history. For a particular work, request its individual Guanyin description and documentation.