Reuters
[Source: Reuters Entertainment/ Lifestyle]
A rare Chinese Buddha statue, found in a French family home and part of a set thought to have been lost, is expected to fetch 1 million euros ($1.1 million) when it is auctioned on June 13 in Paris.
According to auction house Bonhams, the piece is a very rare wood figure, a religious work depicting the Buddhist Bodhisattva Guanyin made in the 12th-13th century under the Jin dynasty.
Over a metre high, the piece was last sold in the 1930s to a family in Boulogne, a suburb near Paris. The family wishes to remain anonymous.
Large sculptures such as the one to be sold were originally made for Buddhist temples.
The head of Bonhams Chinese art Caroline Schulten said the family was unaware of its value until they called her up for an estimate.
Bonhams auction house says there are likely only a handful of such pieces left in the world, which are mostly in museums.
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