A FINE TIBETO CHINESE GILT-COPPER FIGURE OF MAHAKARUNIKALOKESVARA, seated in maharajalilasana on a lotus, his right arm resting on his raised right leg, his left resting on the ground and holding the lotus-stem flowering along his shoulder, another lotus raising from the base at his right side and supporting the pustaka, wearing dhoti with scrolling and flowerheads, bodhisattva-ornaments, circular earrings, five-leafed crown, his face with downcast expression, urna, traces of cold-gilding, in front of his blue painted high chignon the jina Buddha Amitabha, the front of base engraved with the six-character mark of Yongle and from the period (A.D. 1403 - 1424), sealed

This delicate cast bronze figure depicts the Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara in his Mahakarunika aspect (the Great Compasionate One). Its characteristics are the special sitting posture, the miniature figure of jina Amitabha (his spiritutal father) in front of his hairdoe and the lotus.
The origin of this aspect of Avalokitesvara goes back to India. The artists of the Himalayan countries used the theme more sporadic and hardly in such a relaxed and elegant way as this present bronze. The Nepalo Tibetan Buddhist tradition was brought to China during the Yuan dynasty. It reached her zenith during the reigns of Yongle (A.D. 1404 - 1426) and Xuande (A.D. 1426 - 1436) of the Ming period. Nevertheless it is extremely rare to find this iconographic theme in the Tibeto Chinese Buddhist art tradition of China. One well known example is in the Cleveland Museum of Art and dates to the late 16th century. As far as we know no other Yongle dated bronze of the Great Compasionate One has been published.
However if one turns to the pure Chinese Buddhist art tradition of the Song (A.D. 960-1279), Yuan (A.D. 1269 - 1368) and Ming (A.D. 1368 - 1644) dynasties, one can find many wood and bronze figures of Guanyin (a partly feminized aspect of Avalokitesvara) in this specific sitting posture. Therefore it is not to be excluded that the bronze under discussion combines elements from both the Nepalo Tibetan and the pure Chinese Buddhist traditions, which makes it unique among the Yongle dated bronzes.
Remarkable as well is its diminutive size. Only a few Yongle dated bronzes of approximately the same size are known. Still its craftmanship is of an extremely high quality, with all details superbly executed.

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