A painting of Boshisattva Avalokitesvara , walking on a lotus pond with a large halo behind him, the eyes glancing down to watch over the world, wearing a light, flowing, gossamer shawl, strings of pearls and precious gems, holding a flask and a willow branch respectively in the left and right hand, 160x85cm
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First mentioned in the translation of the Lotus Sutra, a Buddhist text composed between the 1st BC and 1st AD, Avalokitesvara could take either a male or female form, adult or child, human or non-human being, to teach the Dharma to sentient beings. The occurrence of a small image of Amithaba on the headdress of the deity suggests a connection with the attendant who escorted the souls of the righteous the the Pure Land inhabited by Amithaba Buddha, according to the Amida Sutra (3rd century AD), and with the successor of Amithaba mentioned in the Amitayurdhyana Sutra. The facial hair would seem to indicate the influence of a style of portraiture that predated the 13th century, when Guanyin was generally portrayed with male attributes. The water flask and the willow branch, traditionally appearing in China as iconographical attributes of Guanyin, from at least the 6th century, have been examined in connection with Avalokitesvara as the Lord of the Universe, Lokesvara: the ablution vessel, representing the conversion of Maytreya from Brahamism, being a symbol of the magic universe where the priest operates, and the willow branch, symbolic of the lotus shoot, being a cosmic and spiritual force of the universe. For reference see Roderick Whitfield, Art of Central Asia: The Stein, vol. 3, 1982-85); Dorothy Wong, Guanyin images in Medieval China, 5th to 8th centuries, 2007; Martin Palmer, Kuan Yin. Myths and Prophecies of the Chinese Goddess of Compassion, 1995; John Blofeld, Bodhisattva of Compassion. The Mystical Tradition of Kuan Yin, 1988.