Contemplative Bodhisattva

The ribbons used to fasten the Bodhisattva’s crown drape down onto his shoulders. With his left foot resting on a lotus pedestal, he sits on a stool-like seat in a partial “lotus position” (jiafu zuo). The façade of the rectangular base is carved in relief and features the image of a pair of children supporting the Mount Bo incense burner. The children are flanked by a pair of Dharma lions and guardians. Either side of the base is carved with two deities. Some scholars believe that the images of the deities were borrowed from Hinduism. The votive text carved on the back reads, “On the eighth day of the fourth lunar month, in the seventh year of the Tianbao reign, Han Zisi respecfully commissions a white jade contemplative Bodhisattva for his late parents.”
  Although damaged, the sculpture, with its simple but smooth drapery lines, is considered a masterpiece of Northern Wei Buddhist sculpture.