A rare early bronze figure of Padmapani China, Northern Wei Dynasty, 5th Century

cast standing on an integral square footed base with circular pedestal of lotus lappets, the bodhisattva dressed in long dhoti and ropes of jewels, holding a lotus bud and an amphora bottle, the stylised oval head framed by a tall foliate crown, flanked by large ears and swathes of fluttering scarves, all against a leaf mandorla of stylised bands of flames within studded borders

Small votive images of this 'Lotus-bearer' emanation of Avalokitesvara appear to have been popular during the late 5th Century; compare one in the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, dated in accordance with AD 484 , illustrated by Ren?Yvon Lefebvre d'Argenc? Chinese, Korean and Japanese Sculpture in the Avery Brundage Collection, San Francisco, 1974, pl.20, another dated to 486, illustrated in Mayuyama Seventy Years, Tokyo, 1976, vol.II, no.107, and a third dated to 498, now in the collection of the National Palace Museum, Taiwan, included in the Museum's exhibition The Crucible of Compassion and Wisdom, Taipei, 1987, cat.no. 60 .

The depiction of the deity in trousers also appears to indicate an early date, since by AD 520 he appears in flared pointed skirts with looped scarves, compare Matsubara Saburo, Chinese Buddhist Sculpture, Tokyo, 1966, pl.63 dated 502 AD with pl.64 dated 526 AD.