Cleveland Museum of Art

Potalaka Guanyin

Date

900s

Medium

Carved sandalwood with traces of paint

Culture

China, Five dynasties (907-960)

Department

Chinese Art

Institution

Cleveland Museum of Art

This portable figure of Guanyin, the Bodhisattva of Compassion who vowed to stay on earth to help human beings, is carved of precious sandalwood. It is lavishly covered with garlands of flowers that retain traces of the original red paint. The small sculpture may have been used in a private devotional context. Mount Potala is the mythical home of the bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara, called Guanyin in Chinese.

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