Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara (Guanyin)

China

On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 208

A removable panel in the back of this image gives access to a hollow interior that would have been filled with offerings at the time of the piece’s consecration. The interior surface of the panel bears a date (1282) and a small bronze mirror (34.15.2) that functioned as a protective talisman.

The bodhisattva has a rounded physique and stands in a slightly twisting pose, which creates a sense of depth. Both conventions attest to the introduction of Indo-Himalayan sculptural traditions in China in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, when the Mongols controlled both China and parts of Tibet. The elaborate coiffure also derives from these traditions.

#7463. Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara (Guanyin)

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Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara (Guanyin), Wood (wiillow) with traces of pigment; single woodblock construction, China

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Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara (Guanyin), Wood (wiillow) with traces of pigment; single woodblock construction, China
Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara (Guanyin), Wood (wiillow) with traces of pigment; single woodblock construction, China
Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara (Guanyin), Wood (wiillow) with traces of pigment; single woodblock construction, China
Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara (Guanyin), Wood (wiillow) with traces of pigment; single woodblock construction, China
Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara (Guanyin), Wood (wiillow) with traces of pigment; single woodblock construction, China
Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara (Guanyin), Wood (wiillow) with traces of pigment; single woodblock construction, China

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