Manjusri Bodhisattva

NEPAL

Manjusri wears a single-leaf crown and a few unique-looking pieces of jewelry, such as bell-shaped earrings and a claw necklace. The upper body has a stole incised across the chest and the figure wears a sacred thread across the left shoulder. A thin skirt clings to the Bodhisattva’s lower body as the figure sits in the relaxation posture with one leg overlapping the lion throne. The Bodhisattva’s left hand holds up a lotus flower, where a sutra scroll may once have rested, and the right hand holds a jewel. The statue was once backed by a mandorla that is now missing. The statue is considered one of the earliest copper alloy figures of this Bodhisattva from Nepal. The style of the layered throne carved with lions at the corners and lotus petals at the bottom shows influence from the Pala period (circa 8th–12th century).