Statue of Avalokitesvara in Copper Water and Moon

[Statue of Guanyin in Copper Water Moon]

Statue of Guanyin in Copper Water Moon, 15 cm high
The figure looks like pekoe between the eyebrows, wears a flower vine crown on the head, and the treasure thread hangs over the shoulders on both sides. The front of the chest is decorated with tassels, and the left chest is carved with head-like ornaments. After the cloth is wrapped around the shoulder arm, the right hand lifts one end of the cloth and hangs it down, and the other end hangs down along the left arm. It looks like wearing a long skirt, with the bottom hanging over the foot. The Guanyin in the water is seated on a rock in a game sitting posture. The left foot is hanging on the rock, the right foot is bent on the ground, the right arm is placed on the right knee, and the left palm is on the ground. It looks calm and quiet, as if watching the moon shadow in the water
Shuiyue Guanyin is one of the thirty-three Guanyin. In esoteric Buddhism, it is the Water Auspicious Bodhisattva of the Mandala Guanyin Academy in Tibet. The Avalokitesvara of the Moon and Water are enshrined in many temples in China. Zhou Fang, a famous painter in the Tang Dynasty, once praised Shuiyue Guanyin for “being very beautiful, and the full French clothes are still close to Lu Li. The clothes are strong and simple, and the colors are soft and beautiful. The bodhisattva is strict, and creates the body of Shuiyue.” This has had a considerable impact on the statues in the late Tang and Five Dynasties. In the Song and Yuan dynasties, it became fashionable to provide water and moon Guanyin, and its influence was still visible until the Ming and Qing dynasties. In particular, the game sitting posture of the Water Moon Avalokitesvara is also often used in other bodhisattva modeling. The object on the left chest of the statue is extremely rare among other similar statues, and its meaning needs further study. The sculpture is exquisite, vivid, and has the style of the times. It is the masterpiece of the Shuiyue Guanyin statue in the Ming Dynasty, and has important historical and artistic value.