Guanyin in rajalilasana

China

Year 17th century CE

Materials Wood and polychrome lacquers

Inventory Cs/10

Dimensions 112 x 70 x 50 cm

Definition Statue

Subject Statue of Avalokiteshvara (Guanyin) reclining

Collection

China

Additional Infos Provenance: Shanxi or Shaanxi

Description The bodhisattva Guanyin, a Chinese version of the Indian rajalilasana) on a base that seems to evoke a rock dug by the waves and which therefore recalls the presence of the bodhisattva on Mount Potalaka, in the middle of the ocean. The smooth face has lowered eyelids, indicating the gaze turned downwards on the beings overwhelmed by samsara, and a small mouth shaped like a rosebud with a regular nose in the center of poorly marked eyebrow arches. Hair in neat fringes emerges from a tall diadem bearing in its center the image of Amitabha, the Cosmic Buddha to whose family Avalokiteshvara belongs. The bodhisattva wears a collar, earrings and bracelets, and wears a long shawl that covers both shoulders and falls on his forearms with soft folds.