In 2019, a woman from Missouri made headlines when she sold a small Buddhist figure at Sotheby’s New York for US$2.06 million – a sculpture she had bought at a garage sale for about US$75 nearly two decades earlier.
Seven years on, the same tenth‑century figure of a Chinese deity returned to Sotheby’s during Asia Week New York on 16 September. Estimated at US$600,000, it hammered at US$1.6 million and sold for US$2.048 million with fees, just shy of its 2019 price.
Lot 63 | A rare gilt-bronze figure of Chintamanichakra Avalokiteshvara
Late Tang dynasty / Five Dynasties
Height: 16.5 cm
Provenance (Supplemented by The Value):
- Collection of Trezevant Branam Winfrey (1912-1999), by 1968
- Missouri Private Collection, acquired from the estate of the above in Kirkwood, Missouri, 1999
- Sotheby's New York, 20th March 2019, lot 553 (Sold: US$2,060,000)
Estimate: US$600,000 - 800,000
Hammer Price: US$1,600,000
Sold: US$2,048,000
The gilt-bronze figure had been with its owner since 1999, when she spotted it at a garage sale held at the estate of Trezevant Branam Winfrey, a local collector in Kirkwood, Missouri. Its gilding was worn and two of its arms were missing, but she was drawn to it regardless and paid US$75 to take it home.
For almost 20 years, she did not know quite what she had. That changed when she brought it to Antiques Roadshow in St Louis, where specialist Robert Waterhouse identified it as a genuine Chinese antiquity – likely an imperial piece from the 15th century – and put a conservative retail value of US$100,000-125,000 on it.
The work was soon consigned to Sotheby’s, where it was more precisely identified as a gilt-bronze figure of Cintamanicakra Avalokiteshvara, dating to the late Tang or Five Dynasties period. Offered in New York in 2019 with an estimate of US$60,000-80,000, it drew seven minutes of bidding and sold for US$2.06 million, roughly 20,000 times what the owner had paid.
The seller in 2019 brought the figure to Antiques Roadshow in 2018
At 16.5 cm high, the present figure is magnificently cast with sumptuous flowing robes and a serene, tender gaze. It depicts Cintamanicakra Avalokiteshvara, a rare and esoteric form of Guanyin – the bodhisattva of compassion and one of the most important and widely worshipped deities in Chinese Buddhism.
In esoteric Buddhist tradition, Guanyin is understood to take six distinct forms, each associated with the salvation of beings in one of the six realms of existence. Cintamanicakra is the form dedicated to the heavenly realm, guiding beings who, despite fortunate circumstances, risk losing their way through attachment to pleasure and neglect of spiritual practice.
The deity is typically shown with six arms, as in the present figure. On the right, one hand rests against the cheek in a gesture of compassionate contemplation; another holds the wish-granting jewel to relieve the suffering of beings; and a third carries a rosary to dispel ignorance.
On the left, one hand presses down on the sacred mountain, a gesture of unshakeable resolve, while another holds a lotus as a symbol of purity, and the last carries a dharma wheel, representing the perpetuation of Buddhist teaching in the world.
A gilt-bronze figure of Chintamanichakr, Tang dynasty | Collection of Yamato Bunkakan Museum in Nara
(Left): A gilt-bronze figure of Vajrasattva, Tang dynasty | Collection of Art Institute of Chicago; (right) A gilt-bronze figure of a bodhisattva, late Tang dynasty / Five Dynasties | Collection of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
The Tang dynasty is widely seen as a golden age of Buddhist image-making in China, yet esoteric bronzes from the period are exceptionally rare. Their scarcity may owe in part to government suppression, especially the Huichang Persecution of 842-846 CE, when Buddhist temples, monasteries and images were demolished on a large scale.
The few known examples tend to share certain formal features, suggesting that they may have been produced for a small number of elite devotional contexts. To date, only one other Cintamanicakra of this type is known, preserved at the Yamato Bunkakan Museum in Nara and dated to the mid- to late Tang dynasty. Related esoteric figures include the Vajrasattva at the Art Institute of Chicago and the Alsdorf bodhisattva at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.
Other Highlight Lots:
Lot 146 | A rare and important gray limestone figure
Sui / Tang dynasty
Height: 140 cm
Provenance:
- Acquired in Nan Tch'ang Tch'eng, Shansi Province (according to the C.T. Loo archive)
- C.T. Loo, Paris, circa 1920-1930
- French Private Collection
- Palais Galliéra, Paris, 13th June 1969, lot 209
- Palais des Congrès, Versailles, 13th May 1973
- Gene Tyson, New York
- French Private Collection
- Sotheby's Paris, 11th June 2009, lot 192
- Eskenazi Ltd., London
Estimate: US$300,000 - 450,000
Hammer Price: US$550,000
Sold: US$704,000
Lot 46 | A pair of 'huanghuali' 'Official's Hat' yokeback armchairs (Sichutou Guanmaoyi)
Late Ming dynasty, 17th century
Height: 49.6 cm
Provenance:
- J.J. Lally & Co., New York, 1986
Estimate: US$60,000 - 80,000
Hammer Price: US$380,000
Sold: US$473,600
Lot 148 | An exceptional and rare large white-glazed jar and cover
Sui dynasty
Height: 33.5 cm
Provenance:
- English Noble Collection
- Sotheby's London, 16th June 1998, lot 217
Estimate: US$200,000 - 300,000
Hammer Price: US$350,000
Sold: US$448,000
Lot 35 | A fine and rare doucai ‘mythical beast’ dish
Mark and period of Yongzheng
Diameter: 20.2 cm
Estimate: US$80,000 - 120,000
Hammer Price: US$280,000
Sold: US$358,400
Lot 145 | A pair of silver 'phoenix and mandarin duck' meiping
Yuan dynasty
Height: 29 cm
Estimate: US$200,000 - 300,000
Hammer Price: US$170,000
Sold: US$217,600
Lot 92 | An archaic green jade ceremonial blade (Ge)
Shang dynasty
Length: 38 cm
Provenance:
- Private Collection
- Sotheby's London, 11th December 1984, lot 71
- Bluett & Sons Ltd., London, 1986
- Robert H. Ellsworth, New York
- Christie's New York, 17th March 2015, lot 3
Estimate: US$250,000 - 350,000
Hammer Price: US$170,000
Sold: US$217,600
Lot 220 | A ‘Dehua’ seated figure of Guanyin
Qing dynasty, 18th / 19th century
Height: 16.5 cm
Provenance:
- American Private Collection, acquired prior to 1973, and thence by descent
Estimate: US$5,000 - 7,000
Hammer Price: US$165,000
Sold: US$211,200
Lot 88 | A large and impressive archaic pale green jade ceremonial blade (Ge) | Chinese jades from the Ralph Wanger Collection
Erlitou culture
Length: 37 cm
Provenance:
- Collection of Angus Forsyth
- Anthony Carter Ltd., London
Estimate: US$100,000 - 150,000
Hammer Price: US$150,000
Sold: US$192,000
Lot 39 | A fine and rare pair of lemon-yellow-enameled cups
Marks and period of Yongzheng
Diameter: 6.5 cm
Provenance:
- Collection of Vera Goldschlager (1916-1999)
- Christie's Hong Kong, 30th April 2001, lot 672
Estimate: US$80,000 - 120,000
Hammer Price: US$150,000
Sold: US$192,000
Lot 34 | A fine copper-red 'wufu' bowl | Property from the H. George and Marianne Mandel Collection
Mark and period of Yongzheng
Diameter: 15.2 cm
Provenance:
- Collection of Chang Foo Yau (1884-1963)
- China Institute of America, New York
- Parke-Bernet Galleries, New York, 1st December 1962, lot 77
Estimate: US$40,000 - 60,000
Hammer Price: US$150,000
Sold: US$192,000
Lot 32 | A fine and rare blue and white 'Eight Buddhist Emblems' ewer and cover (He)
Seal mark and period of Qianlong
Height: 21.5 cm
Provenance:
- Collection of Richard Marchant
Estimate: US$80,000 - 120,000
Hammer Price: US$150,000
Sold: US$179,200
Lot 122 | Three pale green jade 'musicians and dancer' belt plaques | Chinese jades from the Ralph Wanger Collection
Tang dynasty
Length of longest: 10.2 cm
Provenance:
- Anthony Carter Ltd., London
Estimate: US$40,000 - 60,000
Hammer Price: US$120,000
Sold: US$153,600
Lot 86 | A rare archaic pale green jade notched disc (Yabi) | Chinese jades from the Ralph Wanger Collection
Neolithic period, Miaodigou Phase II / Longshan culture
Width: 11.1 cm
Provenance:
- Robert H. Ellsworth, New York
- Anthony Carter Ltd., London
Estimate: US$30,000 - 50,000
Hammer Price: US$90,000
Sold: US$115,200
Auction Details:
Auction House: Sotheby’s New York
Sale: Chinese Art
Date: 16 September 2026
Number of Lots: 230
Sold: 163
Unsold: 67
Sale Rate: 71%
Sale Total: US$10,595,072