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Lot Essay
A Multi-Armed and Multi-Headed Gilt-Bronze Figure of Guanyin on a Lotus Stand
Robert D. Mowry
Alan J. Dworsky Curator of Chinese Art Emeritus,
Harvard Art Museums, and
Senior Consultant, Christie’s
哈佛大學藝術博物館亞洲部榮譽主任暨佳士得高級顧問
The image of the seated Buddha Amitabha 阿彌陀佛 in the hands of the outstretched arms at the very top of the sculpture identifies this compelling figure as the Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara, known in Chinese as Guanyin 觀音, just as the multiple heads and arms indicate that it is a Tantric 密宗 manifestation of that deity. The mode of presentation and Tibeto-Chinese style indicate that it was produced during the Ming dynasty, probably in the sixteenth or early seventeenth century.
The compassionate crown, countenance, elaborate coiffure, princely garb, and wealth of jewelry identify this figure as a bodhisattva 菩薩, a benevolent being who has attained enlightenment 菩提 but who has selflessly postponed entry into nirvana 涅槃 in order to assist other sentient beings—有情 or 眾生—in gaining enlightenment and thereby release from the samsara cycle 輪迴 of birth and rebirth. Thanks to the enormous stores of meritorious karma they have amassed, bodhisattvas are able to assist others through the transfer of meritorious karma to those in need.
Bodhisattvas are presented in the guise of an early Indian prince, a reference to Siddhartha Gautama’s worldly status before he became the Historical Buddha Shakyamuni 釈迦牟尼佛, thereby implying that just as Siddhartha 喬達摩悉達多 (traditionally, c. 563–c. 483 BC), who was born a crown prince, became a Buddha 佛, so will bodhisattvas eventually become Buddhas, once all sentient beings have attained enlightenment. Though often depicted with a single head, two arms, and two legs, bodhisattvas may be shown with multiple heads and limbs, depending upon the individual bodhisattva and the particular manifestation as described in the sutras 佛經, or sacred texts.
This sculpture represents Avalokiteshvara, the Bodhisattva of Infinite Compassion—who is known in Chinese as Guanshiyin Pusa 觀世音菩薩, or more simply as Guanyin 觀音. A translation of the Sanskrit name Avalokiteshvara, Guanshiyin means “[The One Who] Perceives the Sounds of the World”, a reference to Guanyin’s ability to hear both the cries of the afflicted and the prayers of supplicants. Guanyin, an earthly manifestation of the Buddha Amitabha 阿彌陀佛, guards the world in the interval between the departure of the Historical Buddha Shakyamuni and the appearance of Maitreya 彌勒, the Buddha of the Future.
Though typically depicted with one head, two arms, and two legs, Guanyin, as described in the scriptures, sometimes appears in a manifestation with multiple heads and limbs. One variant form of Guanyin has eleven heads 十一面觀音菩薩, for example while another, figuratively if not literally, possesses 500 heads, 1,000 hands, and 1,000 eyes 千手千眼觀音. The bodhisattva represented in this sculpture claims twenty-four arms and seven heads (or faces); the three faces in the lowest tier are benevolent, those in the middle tier are wrathful—expressing anger not at individuals per se but at their wrongdoings—and the single Buddha head in the top tier indicates that Guanyin is a spiritual emanation of the Buddha Amitabha. The multiple heads and limbs symbolize the deity’s ability to assist more beings than can a deity with but one head, two arms and two legs. In the case of the multi-arm, multi-head Guanyin, after struggling to comprehend the needs of so many in distress, the bodhisattva’s head split into eleven pieces. According to the sutras, upon seeing his spiritual emanation’s plight, the Buddha Amitabha granted Guanyin eleven heads to help him hear the cries of those who are suffering. Upon hearing and comprehending those cries, Guanyin attempted to reach out to all those needing help but found that his two arms shattered into pieces. Once more, Amitabha came to his aid and gave him a thousand arms to reach out to those in need. In China, the multi-armed manifestation of Guanyin is the most popular among the bodhisattva’s several esoteric forms.
This sculpture depicts Guanyin seated on a lotus base in vajrasana 金剛座—often called padmasana 蓮華座, dhyanasana 禪座, or lotus position in English—and with seven heads, or faces, and with twenty-four arms. The numerous hands hold various ritual and symbolic implements, the implements appearing dark as they were not gilded, the gold reserved for the deity itself and symbolizing the light that, according to the sutras radiates from the deity’s body.
The bodhisattva holds the main arms at chest level, hands pressed together in the anjali-mudra 合掌印, sometime called the namaskara-mudra, a gesture of reverence and respect. (A ritual hand gesture, a mudra 手印 symbolizes a particular action, power, or attitude of a deity.) He holds a patra, or alms bowl 缽, in the hands in the lap, which are positioned in the meditation mudra, or dhyana-mudra 禪定手印. The two long arms that rise from the shoulders frame the bodhisattva’s multiple heads, their hands holding an image of the Buddha Amitabha on a lotus blossom at the very top. The hands on the figure’s proper right variously hold a phurbu (ceremonial dagger 金剛橛 or 普巴杵), a mala (prayer beads 念珠), a kalasa (ambrosia vase 甘露瓶), and a padma (lotus bud 蓮蕾), among others; the hands on the proper left variously hold a capa (bow 弓), a chakra (wheel 法輪), a ghanta (ritual bell 鈴), a pustaka (sacred book 佛經), and a padma (lotus blossom 蓮花), among others.
The figure’s proportions and the robe’s floral borders point to the sculpture’s mid- to late Ming date of creation, while the squarish face, sensuous eyes, large circular earrings, beaded necklace and anklets, and Five-Point Crown 五佛冠 characterize its Tibeto-Chinese style. A standing eleven-headed, multi-arm Avalokiteshvara from Western Tibet dating to c. 1300 now in the Asian Art Museum, San Francisco (B60S231), reveals the Tibetan inspiration for such Chinese sculptures.
Most closely related to the present sculpture—and likely from the same workshop—is a late Ming, gilt bronze image of a seated Avalokiteshvara with multiple heads and twenty-four arms now in the collection of the Tsz Shan Monastery Buddhist Art Museum, Hong Kong 香港市慈山寺佛教藝術博物館 (2017.24). As with the present sculpture, the items that the Hong Kong figure holds were left ungilded (except for two items symbolizing Buddhas).[i] Though now missing its gilding, an otherwise similar eleven-headed, multi-armed Avalokiteshvara ascribed to the seventeenth century sold at Sotheby’s, New York, on 16 September 2009 (Lot 129). A closely related, if slightly later sculpture dating to the early Qing period, seventeenth to eighteenth century, sold at Christie’s, New York, on 22 March 2019 (Lot 1781). An eleven-headed Avalokiteshvara with twenty-four arms and dated to 1691—the cyclical year xinwei 辛未—sold at Christie’s, Hong Kong, on 29 November 2017 (Lot 2922). And a gilt bronze, eleven-headed, thousand-armed Avalokiteshvara in the collection of the Seattle Art Museum has been attributed to the sixteenth century (33.821).
Robert D. Mowry
Alan J. Dworsky Curator of Chinese Art Emeritus,
Harvard Art Museums, and
Senior Consultant, Christie’s
哈佛大學藝術博物館亞洲部榮譽主任暨佳士得高級顧問
The image of the seated Buddha Amitabha 阿彌陀佛 in the hands of the outstretched arms at the very top of the sculpture identifies this compelling figure as the Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara, known in Chinese as Guanyin 觀音, just as the multiple heads and arms indicate that it is a Tantric 密宗 manifestation of that deity. The mode of presentation and Tibeto-Chinese style indicate that it was produced during the Ming dynasty, probably in the sixteenth or early seventeenth century.
The compassionate crown, countenance, elaborate coiffure, princely garb, and wealth of jewelry identify this figure as a bodhisattva 菩薩, a benevolent being who has attained enlightenment 菩提 but who has selflessly postponed entry into nirvana 涅槃 in order to assist other sentient beings—有情 or 眾生—in gaining enlightenment and thereby release from the samsara cycle 輪迴 of birth and rebirth. Thanks to the enormous stores of meritorious karma they have amassed, bodhisattvas are able to assist others through the transfer of meritorious karma to those in need.
Bodhisattvas are presented in the guise of an early Indian prince, a reference to Siddhartha Gautama’s worldly status before he became the Historical Buddha Shakyamuni 釈迦牟尼佛, thereby implying that just as Siddhartha 喬達摩悉達多 (traditionally, c. 563–c. 483 BC), who was born a crown prince, became a Buddha 佛, so will bodhisattvas eventually become Buddhas, once all sentient beings have attained enlightenment. Though often depicted with a single head, two arms, and two legs, bodhisattvas may be shown with multiple heads and limbs, depending upon the individual bodhisattva and the particular manifestation as described in the sutras 佛經, or sacred texts.
This sculpture represents Avalokiteshvara, the Bodhisattva of Infinite Compassion—who is known in Chinese as Guanshiyin Pusa 觀世音菩薩, or more simply as Guanyin 觀音. A translation of the Sanskrit name Avalokiteshvara, Guanshiyin means “[The One Who] Perceives the Sounds of the World”, a reference to Guanyin’s ability to hear both the cries of the afflicted and the prayers of supplicants. Guanyin, an earthly manifestation of the Buddha Amitabha 阿彌陀佛, guards the world in the interval between the departure of the Historical Buddha Shakyamuni and the appearance of Maitreya 彌勒, the Buddha of the Future.
Though typically depicted with one head, two arms, and two legs, Guanyin, as described in the scriptures, sometimes appears in a manifestation with multiple heads and limbs. One variant form of Guanyin has eleven heads 十一面觀音菩薩, for example while another, figuratively if not literally, possesses 500 heads, 1,000 hands, and 1,000 eyes 千手千眼觀音. The bodhisattva represented in this sculpture claims twenty-four arms and seven heads (or faces); the three faces in the lowest tier are benevolent, those in the middle tier are wrathful—expressing anger not at individuals per se but at their wrongdoings—and the single Buddha head in the top tier indicates that Guanyin is a spiritual emanation of the Buddha Amitabha. The multiple heads and limbs symbolize the deity’s ability to assist more beings than can a deity with but one head, two arms and two legs. In the case of the multi-arm, multi-head Guanyin, after struggling to comprehend the needs of so many in distress, the bodhisattva’s head split into eleven pieces. According to the sutras, upon seeing his spiritual emanation’s plight, the Buddha Amitabha granted Guanyin eleven heads to help him hear the cries of those who are suffering. Upon hearing and comprehending those cries, Guanyin attempted to reach out to all those needing help but found that his two arms shattered into pieces. Once more, Amitabha came to his aid and gave him a thousand arms to reach out to those in need. In China, the multi-armed manifestation of Guanyin is the most popular among the bodhisattva’s several esoteric forms.
This sculpture depicts Guanyin seated on a lotus base in vajrasana 金剛座—often called padmasana 蓮華座, dhyanasana 禪座, or lotus position in English—and with seven heads, or faces, and with twenty-four arms. The numerous hands hold various ritual and symbolic implements, the implements appearing dark as they were not gilded, the gold reserved for the deity itself and symbolizing the light that, according to the sutras radiates from the deity’s body.
The bodhisattva holds the main arms at chest level, hands pressed together in the anjali-mudra 合掌印, sometime called the namaskara-mudra, a gesture of reverence and respect. (A ritual hand gesture, a mudra 手印 symbolizes a particular action, power, or attitude of a deity.) He holds a patra, or alms bowl 缽, in the hands in the lap, which are positioned in the meditation mudra, or dhyana-mudra 禪定手印. The two long arms that rise from the shoulders frame the bodhisattva’s multiple heads, their hands holding an image of the Buddha Amitabha on a lotus blossom at the very top. The hands on the figure’s proper right variously hold a phurbu (ceremonial dagger 金剛橛 or 普巴杵), a mala (prayer beads 念珠), a kalasa (ambrosia vase 甘露瓶), and a padma (lotus bud 蓮蕾), among others; the hands on the proper left variously hold a capa (bow 弓), a chakra (wheel 法輪), a ghanta (ritual bell 鈴), a pustaka (sacred book 佛經), and a padma (lotus blossom 蓮花), among others.
The figure’s proportions and the robe’s floral borders point to the sculpture’s mid- to late Ming date of creation, while the squarish face, sensuous eyes, large circular earrings, beaded necklace and anklets, and Five-Point Crown 五佛冠 characterize its Tibeto-Chinese style. A standing eleven-headed, multi-arm Avalokiteshvara from Western Tibet dating to c. 1300 now in the Asian Art Museum, San Francisco (B60S231), reveals the Tibetan inspiration for such Chinese sculptures.
Most closely related to the present sculpture—and likely from the same workshop—is a late Ming, gilt bronze image of a seated Avalokiteshvara with multiple heads and twenty-four arms now in the collection of the Tsz Shan Monastery Buddhist Art Museum, Hong Kong 香港市慈山寺佛教藝術博物館 (2017.24). As with the present sculpture, the items that the Hong Kong figure holds were left ungilded (except for two items symbolizing Buddhas).[i] Though now missing its gilding, an otherwise similar eleven-headed, multi-armed Avalokiteshvara ascribed to the seventeenth century sold at Sotheby’s, New York, on 16 September 2009 (Lot 129). A closely related, if slightly later sculpture dating to the early Qing period, seventeenth to eighteenth century, sold at Christie’s, New York, on 22 March 2019 (Lot 1781). An eleven-headed Avalokiteshvara with twenty-four arms and dated to 1691—the cyclical year xinwei 辛未—sold at Christie’s, Hong Kong, on 29 November 2017 (Lot 2922). And a gilt bronze, eleven-headed, thousand-armed Avalokiteshvara in the collection of the Seattle Art Museum has been attributed to the sixteenth century (33.821).