Kwannon (Guanyin) and a pair of sutra lines | Anonymous Chinese artist | 18th century

The artist behind this gold-painted work is unknown. It depicts a Kannon seated upon an open lotus blossom. She has placed her right foot on the thigh of her left leg, which in turn rests on a smaller lotus blossom. Kannon’s seat is surrounded by rippling water. The perfection of the linework, executed with the finest brush, is reminiscent of Picasso’s classical drawings and etchings of figures from the Greek pantheon.

The portrait is accompanied by a two-line sutra text. A photo shows the original mounting. As the painting and its mounting are around 200 years old, the dark red velvet - which was yellowed and had holes in places - had to be replaced. In the new mounting, the old Chinese frame was retained, and the dark red colour of the original mounting was used for the passe-partout. The image of the Bodhisattva and the two-line text each received their own passe-partout window, edged with a gold strip.

The sutra text is taken from the third chapter of the Lotus Sutra, ‘Myōhō renge kyō’:

‘If there are sentient beings who do not know the root of suffering, who are deeply attached to the causes of suffering, and who cannot let go even for a moment, then for their sake the Buddha teaches skilful means, explaining that the root of all suffering is greed.’