Phagpa-Lokesvara polychrome Wood Tibet

Standing in abhanga, with the right hand in varada mudra, the gesture of charity, the left hand resting at the hip, adorned with the distinctive three leaf crown with his long hair bunched and extending either side, and with the characteristic rectangular earrings, wearing a long dhoti and a sash slung low at the hips.

US Private Collection, 1980's

Good condition. Traces of pigment remaining on the surface. The lower right arm from the elbow and a section at the front of the right foot and base are carved separately and visibly attached. A separately carved lotus pedestal is missing.
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The earrings, hair style, low-slung sash, mudras and the tall three leaf crown identify the image as a copy of the precious circa seventh century Nepalese sandalwood Arya Avalokiteshvara housed in Lhasa. A number of very similar copies, in wood, ivory and a few in bronze are recorded, all paying homage to the sacred Phagpa Lokeshvara, cf. a very similar circa fourteenth century or later ivory in the Potala collection, see Ulrich von Schroeder, Buddhist Sculptures in Tibet, Hong Kong, 2001, p. 825, pl. 196D-E.