Standing Bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara (Guanyin)

This gilt bronze object represents the Bodhisattva of Compassion, one of the most important Buddhist deities. In Sanskrit, the original literary and scholarly language of Buddhism, he is known as Avalokitesvara, meaning “the lord who gazes down (at the world).” In Chinese, he is popularly called Guanyin, which is an abbreviation of the name Guanshiyin, meaning “one who observes the sounds (or cries) of the world.” The standing figure holds a flask of holy water in the left hand while the right originally held a willow branch, of which only the lower portion remains. The gilt bronze pedestal may or may not be original to the figure. The presence of holes indicates the places where two attendants would have stood flanking the central figure and other smaller figures (possibly guardian animals), at the front corners.