China, Xizang Zizhiqu, Tibet, about 1400s
Bodhisattva
Bronze with inlay
8 x 5 1/2 x 4 inches
Gift of the Jaipaul Family, 2002.
2002.034.010

This small Tibetan bronze figure may be identified as a Bodhisattva because of its jewelry, crown, aureole (which surrounds the body), and nimbus. It sits on a lotus in a posture of meditation, with two of its four hands in the namaskaramudra gesture, which indicates prayer or greeting. In another hand is a strand of prayer beads. The last hand is empty, and may originally have held a lotus.