YUAN-MING DYNASTY, 14TH-15TH CENTURY

The present figure of Avalokiteshvara belongs to a corpus of similar gilt-bronzes from the Yuan and Ming dynasties. All show the bodhisattva in the 'Water and Moon' (shuiyue) posture, with the right arm draped languidly over the raised knee. Such depictions may have originated in the Tang period, but gained increasing prevalence in the Song and Yuan dynasties. Compare the present figure with a similar example published by Eskenazi in Chinese Buddhist sculpture from Northern Wei to Ming, London, 2002, pp. 49-51, no. 14.