The earthly embodiment of, and principal attendant to,the Amitabha Buddha, Avalokiteśvara is the bodhisattva of compassion. Cast in the Buddhist philosophy as the ability to comprehend the suffering of others, compassion (karuna) is one of the central Buddhist principles, transcending all of the major schools. In Theravada Buddhism, compassion is one of the four bramavihara, virtues and the meditations used to cultivate them. In Mahayana Buddhism, as practiced in Tibet, karuna is one of the stages in becoming a bodhisattva. As the AD 700 text Bodhisattvacarayavatara (A Guide to the Bodhisattva’s Way of Life), by the philosopher Shantideva, explains: ‘since I and other beings are equal and alike in wanting happiness, what is there to distinguish us, so that I should strive for my bliss alone?’ (8.95). Avalokiteśvara expresses the Buddha’s infinite compassion. This infinity is expressed through his 108 Avatars, some male and some female. Perhaps the most well-known today is known to the Chinese as Guanyin, a feminine avatar who has grown a whole life of her own independent of Avalokiteśvara himself. But, historically, the most important avatar of Avalokiteśvara was padmapāni, the lotus-bearer. As padmapāni, Avalokiteśvara reminds Buddhists of the lotus (padma), which rises from the mud at the bottom of the lake, and stretches through the murky waters, before emerging unblemished at the surface – a symbol of the capacity within each of us to reach enlightenment. The Lalitavistara Sutra, a Buddhist text of the Third Century AD, ‘the spirit of the best man is spotless, like the lotus in the [muddy] water, which does not adhere to it.’

This exceptional Sino-Tibetan figure depicts Avalokiteśvara padmapāni as a lithe youth. He is shown in tribhanga, a pose which occupies the same position in Indian art as the contrapposto does in European art. Translated as the ‘triple pose’, tribhanga involves bending the hips, torso and head in opposite directions so as to create an S-curve through the body. This pose was especially associated with Avelokiteśvara padmapāni, featuring in his largest and earliest dated depiction in the Ajanta Caves. His face is tilted downwards, in a reference to his own name, Avelokiteśvara, which means ‘he who looks down [compassionately] on’. His facial features are serene, a nod to his own achievement of enlightenment. On his forehead, between highly-arched eyebrows, is the urna, an auspicious mark which was the thirty-first physical characteristic of the Buddha. In Gautama Buddha’s case, the urna is a whorl of hair on the forehead which marks him out as a ‘great being’ (mahāpurusa). He wears a tall crown, which resembles in form a stupa. His lithe body is richly adorned with necklaces, bracelets and armlets, some of which are picked out in silver inlay. He is shirtless, and wears dhoti, a trouser-like loincloth bunched between the legs. Behind him rises a lotus (padma) which remains budded rather than open; the lotus bud was considered a metaphor for the untapped potential of the Buddhist adherent, with the brilliant white of the lotus hidden within the bud, awaiting to open.

Tibet came under the control of the Qing Dynasty in AD 1720, when Qing forces expelled the troops of the Dzungar Khanate. However, Tibet maintained its own distinctive character despite Chinese domination; indeed, Tibet had previously been occupied under the Yuan Dynasty (AD 1271 – AD 1368), and had survived the experience relatively unscathed. Both the Yuan and the Qing were strong adherents of Buddhism, and sponsored the powerful Gelug School of Buddhism, whose leader, the Dalai Lama, was considered the spiritual and political representtive of Tibet. While the Qing maintained a ‘Minister Resident’ (amban) in Tibet, to oversee the territory, it proved impossible in practice to exert control over the mountainous and ancient theocracy. Instead, the Qing sponsorship of the Gelug School resulted in a flourishing of the Tibetan arts, which thrived on a diet of imported Chinese and Indian models, alongside traditional Tibetan crafts.