Qigxin: Tile with the Face of a Bodhisattva

CHINA, Xinjiang, Bayingolin

The Bodhisattva’s face is carved in high relief at the center of a beaded roundel about a radiating nimbus. Foliated designs at the corners fill out the space to the square border. The figure’s hair is waved and swept up beneath a headdress featuring a large floral design with a beaded surround. The same motif appears on the pair of earrings below. The features of the rounded face, with its long eyes, flattened nose, and small mouth, are distinctly Asian. The disproportionately large ears appear to have been added over the hair.