Chinese Figure Bust of Quan Yin on Wood Base

The calm here took a chisel and a very patient hand.

Quan Yin, known to Buddhists as the bodhisattva of compassion, appears here in a marble figure bust from China, 20th century, raised on a wood base. Devotees have long looked to her as a protector who answers those who call on her, and carved images like this one gave that devotion a face. Her hair swells in combed rolls below a peaked headdress with small scrolling curls. The brow is high, the gaze lowered, the lips closed. Faint gray marks cross the pale stone, and an oval base holds her upright. It stands 17.5 inches high and 13 wide.

Look long enough and you may lower your voice.