A gilt-copper alloy figure of eleven-headed Avalokiteshvara, Tibet, early 15th century

Canadian Private Collection.

The bodhisatttva Ekadashamukha Lokeshvara is depicted with eleven heads, as described in the ancient Indian text ‘Arya Avalokiteshvara Ekadashamukha Nama Dharani’. This form of the bodhisattva has been popular with Tibetan Buddhists since the reintroduction of the faith in the country during the Chidar, or Later Diffusion of Faith, corresponding to around 1000-1200 C. E. The iconography of this example corresponds to eastern Indian Pala period (c. 750-1200) sculpture, such as a twelfth century northern Bengal copper alloy statue depicting Ekadashamukha Lokeshvara now in the Palace, see Ulrich von Schroeder, Buddhist Sculptures in Tibet, vol. I, Hong Kong, 2001, pl. 72A.

The sculpture is clearly of Tibetan origin, and dates to the early 15th century, but is incised to the pedestal with a Yongle (1403-25) mark. The kaishu inscription is somewhat clumsy, clearly written by someone not well versed in Chinese script or the correct stroke order, and there is a 7th indecipherable character not found on Imperial Yongle bronzes. It may be that this was created in a monastic setting which had received one of the many Yongle-marked figures sent from the Imperial court, and the artist chose to replicate the mark on a distinctly Tibetan sculpture.

Michael Henss illustrates a group of Nepalese and Tibetan sculptures with later-added Yongle marks in Buddhist Art in Tibet: New Insights on Ancient Treasures, Delhi, 2012, figs 44-48, including a Tibetan gilt-copper figure of Vajradhara Buddha, offered at Christie's Hong Kong, 1st May 2000, lot 753.