China, late Northern Qi (550–577) or early Sui dynasty (581–618) / late 500s–early 600s
Bodhisattva Guanyin
The Cleveland Museum of Art catalogs Bodhisattva Guanyin as sculpture (China, late Northern Qi (550–577) or early Sui dynasty (581–618) · late 500s–early 600s).
The carved and painted back suggest that the bodhisattva was originally displayed where it could be viewed in the round.
A CLOSER LOOK
The museum identifies this sculpture as sandstone with polychromy.
The museum's collection notes: The artistic excellence of this bodhisattva is further reinforced by comparable outstanding Chinese Buddhist sculptures excavated at Qingzhou in Shandong Province in 1996—one of the most sensational and significant archaeological finds of the 1900s. Like related types among the Qingzhou finds, this statute has a gently smiling face and meticulous detailing of splendid jewelry. A noticeable difference, however, is the unique yingluo 瓔珞 ( mukt hara ) worn by the bodhisattva for personal adornment. The somewhat bizarre but imaginative combination of a string of jewels with grotesque animal masks, flying apsara , jade pendants, dragons, and metal
FOLLOW THE EVIDENCE
The Cleveland Museum of ArtBodhisattva GuanyinOriginal explanation based on the sources above. Images carry their own reuse terms.