A Chinese 18-armed gilt bronze figure of Avalokitesvara, seated on a lotus throne in dhyanasana, wearing a richly engraved mantle and robe, with seven outstretched pairs of arms holding various items a.o. nectar vase, dharma wheel, sword, two pairs of arms placed in front, one pair holding a book and a crown, the other pair with hands in a mudra, hair styled in a central knot and wearing a pierced crown. Ming 1368–1644. Total weight c. 42800 g. H. without throne c. 52 cm. H. with throne c. 67 cm. Provenance: Mogens Pagh, 1911–2004, director of The East Asiatic Company from 1956–1980. He began his career in the company in 1929 and was stationed in Shanghai, Hong Kong and Canton in the period 1931–1939. Thereafter branch director in Hong Kong from 1939–1948 and in San Francisco from 1949–1952. The figure was given to Mogens Pagh in 1979 by the Executive Board in the occasion of his 50th jubilee.