Sculpture by Nyoirin Kannon; Japan, early 17th century or earlier.

Sculpture by Nyoirin Kannon; Japan, early 17th century or earlier.
Lacquered wood and gold leaf.
Presents loss of one of the arms, the flower and polychrome losses.
Measurements: 39,5 x 27 x 23,5 cm.
Sculpture carved in wood that shows the deity seated in a resting posture. Although the drawings usually represent this god as a bodhisattva of two arms, the form of six arms, like the one of this work, reached a great popularity in Japan. In the invocation of Nyoirin he is depicted with one hand often touching the cheek, with the left arm resting on the lotus pedestal. Of the other four arms, one of the right hands holds the jewel and one of the left hands holds a lotus, in this case lost. The originally raised left arm (since not preserved) would have held a wheel balanced on the erect finger, and the lower right arm would have held a rosary.
Kannon is the Japanese name for the Indian Buddhist deity Avalokiteshvara, the bodhisattva of compassion. Because of the boundless love he offered to all beings, he was the most popular of all Buddhist deities throughout Asia. Nyoirin Kannon, a prominent deity in the pantheon of Japanese esoteric Buddhism, is one of the six "transformed forms" of the bodhisattva Kannon, especially associated with granting wishes. The word nyo-i refers to the cintamani, the wish-granting jewel; the term rin, meaning "wheel," alludes to the turning of the wheel of the law. Nyoirin Kannon was widely revered by those who hoped to obtain wealth and have their requests fulfilled.
The figure reflects the deep devotion of Japanese society in the Azuchi-Momoyama and early Edo periods, when sculptural production reached a high degree of refinement in both the treatment of wood and the lacquered and gilded finish.