Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara (Guanyin) Artist: Unknown

late 17th–early 18th century

Asian Art

On view, 2nd floor, Asian Art

Avalokiteshvara (in Chinese, Guanyin) sits with his right hand resting on his raised right knee and his lowered left hand grasping the stem of a lotus, a posture indicative of relaxation. The lotus and the small Buddha in the diadem confirm the identification of this bodhisattva as Avalokiteshvara. In addition to his saronglike lower piece and scarf, standard clothing for a bodhisattva, this figure wears an antelope skin with a three-dimensional head falling over his left shoulder and legs tied in a loop above his chest. Such animal skins are a long-standing Indian symbol for ascetic practices, as is Avalokiteshvara’s long matted hair.

Medium

Gilt bronze

Dimensions

6 1/4 × 5 × 3 5/8 in. (15.9 × 12.7 × 9.2 cm)

Credit Line

Robert Hatfield Ellsworth Fund

Accession Number

2019.66.1

Geography

China

Culture

Chinese

Period

Qing dynasty (1644–1911), Kangxi period (1662–1722)

Classification

Sculpture

Disclaimer

Note: This electronic record was created from historic documentation that does not necessarily reflect the Yale University Art Gallery’s complete or current knowledge about the object. Review and updating of records is ongoing.

Provenance
Sale Koller Auctions, Zurich, Switzerland, June 1999 A111 lot 40; sold to Swiss private collection; sale Koller Auctions, Zurich, Switzerland, Dec 2018, A187AS lot 137; sold to Kapoor Galleries, New York; purchased by the Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, Conn. 2019
Bibliography
  • "Selected Acquisitions," Yale University Art Gallery Bulletin (2019), 106–7, cover ill., ill
Object copyright
No Copyright - United States
Additional information

Object/Work type

religious art

Subject

Bodhisattvas Buddhism compassion lotuses

Technical metadata and APIs

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