Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva

KOREA; Baekje period

The image of Avalokitesvara was as not well defined in the early Baekje period (18 BCE–663 CE); however, with the increased popularity of Amitabha Buddha during the Three Kingdoms period (57 BCE–668 CE), more statues of Avalokitesvara crowned with a Buddha were created. The statue was listed as National Treasure No. 247 in 1989.
The Bodhisattva wears a three-leaf crown and long braids. The slim figure holds a lotus bud in the right hand and a vase in the left hand. A stole falls in a double loop over the skirt and is lifted over the arms to drop beyond the inverted lotus pedestal. A long bead ornament falls from a necklet in a single strand and then divides at a medallion at the waist to loop further downward. This statue of Avalokitesvara shows the bold creativity of Baekje sculptors in producing new styles for this figure.