Maitreya Bodhisattva

CHINA; Northern Wei dynasty

Maitreya is depicted riding with ankles crossed on the back of a one-legged garuda. The slim figure wears a tall headdress, a jeweled collar and necklace, and a stole that flutters down to the garuda’s tail feathers. The lower body is covered with a folded skirt that outlines the limbs below. The hands are in abhaya (fearlessness) and varada (wish-granting) mudras.
The feathers on the garuda are carved in detail. It is supported on a many-tiered step-platform with some openwork designs of mythical creatures near the middle. The small figure of a donor stands at top and a pair of seated Bodhisattvas flanking a tortoise on the middle tier. There are mortise holes located at various places for affixing other objects which are missing.
An inscription found at the back states the statue was made in 518 by a group of people for the benefit of their past and present family members, and identifies the statue as Maitreya.