An original laborious hand-sculpted Divine Goddess of Compassion, a rare dry lacquer on wood core noble and austere Guan Yin Buddha statue. In style, this meditating Guan Yin's graceful form alludes to the Ming-style Buddhas' geometrical simplicity. She appears round and formal in design, wearing a bare-chested voluminous robe with swirls and folds, lacquered overall in crimson red, brushed with sprinkles of gold varnish, majestically seated in royal ease with hands resting on her knees. Her delicately modeled features are charming with a serene expression. Aged with minor abrasion, this rare lacquer shell on the wood core statue is attributed to the late Qing and early republic eras.
The lengthy procedures of the dry lacquer shell technique start with the clay-sculpted figure, followed by coated layers of sap mixed with sawdust over successive layers of hemp cloth and raw lacquer. Note that each layer had to harden before adding another layer. After the layering and drying process, which takes some months for the clay mold to be removed, leaving a dry lacquer hollow shell resilient to the environment and climate change.