Head of a Bodhisattva

Limestone/ Excavated from the Fengxiansi Temple Site, Tang dynasty/
H. 22.3 cm/ Longmen Caves Research Institute
The hair is bound into a large jeweled topknot decorated on the front with a vertically arranged oval surrounded by a beaded design. The tip of the nose is missing, and the cheeks and chin are plump. The eye-nose proportions are good and beautiful. This work was probably created during the Dowager Empress Wu period from the end of the 7th century through the beginning of the 8th century.