Page 274 - Bonhams Chinese Art NYC Nov 9 2017

Avalokiteshvara embodies the compassion of all Buddhas, who
vowed never to rest until all beings were freed from their cycle of
re-incarnation and suffering. The present lot represents a particular
aspect of this compassion, when the head of the bodhisattava splits
into eleven pieces in the desperate struggle to comprehend the needs
of so many people. The Amitabha Buddha, seeing Avalokiteshvara’s
plight, gave the bodhisattva eleven heads with which to hear the cries
of the suffering. Upon hearing these cries and comprehending them,
Avalokiteshvara attempted to reach out to all those who needed aid,
but found that his two arms shattered into pieces. Once more, the
Amitabha Buddha comes to her aid and invests her with a thousand
arms with which to aid the suffering multitudes.

The depth of compassion in the representation of the eleven-headed
Avalokiteshvara made it a popular subject for sculpture, but it is rare
to find a figure of such size as the present lot. Another example of
large size gilt-bronze figure of Avalokiteshvara but without the rows of
small hands encircling the figure, 17th century, is illustrated by U.von
Schroeder, Indo-Tibetan Bronzes, Hong Kong, 1981, p.453, no.124D.

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