Longhua Temple: Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva

CHINA, Shandong, Binzhou; Sui dynasty

Another discovery from the site of Longhua Temple, the statue depicts Avalokitesvara in a wide crown novelly decorated with three discs and fronted with a seated Amitabha. Two ribbons hang from the crown, terminating at the waist. Two discs at the shoulders also have ribbons hanging from them. A stole hangs down on either side of the robe to below the pedestal. A long beaded necklace meets at the waist in an ornament and then continues about either side of the skirt. The large hands are held in the conventional abhaya (fearlessness) and varada (wish-granting) mudras.
There is a tenon beneath the pedestal, indicating that the base is missing. Another tenon is found on the back of the head, giving evidence that there was once a nimbus.