Statue

C408A

Location: On Display in the Asia Galleries

From: China

Curatorial Section: Asian

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Object Number C408A
Current Location Asia Galleries - On Display
Culture Chinese | Buddhist
Provenience China
Period Jin Dynasty (uncertain) | Yuan Dynasty (uncertain)
Date Made Jin Dynasty - Yuan Dynasty
Section Asian
Materials Wood
Technique Painted
Iconography Bodhisattva
Description

Guanyin, known as Avalokiteshvara in Sanskrit, is the bodhisattva of compassion. The most popular deity in Buddhism, Guanyin listens to the prayers of the distressed. Devotees would commission the bodhisattva's image to help them gain salvation. This diety's position, with one leg pendant and a bent knee against the ledge, is called the royal ease, lalitsana in Sanskrit, a pose ultimately traceable to pre-Buddhist royalty.

Credit Line Purchased from C. T. Loo, 1924

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