Beautifully carved in cream to light ivory with striations and Schreger lines, a carving depicting Quanyin, Goddess of Mercy, seated in royal ease atop the sacred white elephant, holding up her right hand in the mudra of fearlessness, while in her left she holds the Joo-I. Her hair is swept into a high chignon which is topped with a phoenix holding a string of pearls in its beak. Two tendrils fall at either side of her head, which is turned slightly to her left as she searches the world for suffering beings to aid and comfort them. Her right hand is the gesture of comforting and fearlessness. Her garments flow in lambent drifts and swirls; a rope at her waist fastens a bounty of peaches of immortality. The sacred elephant rests beneath her in protective watchfulness. The face of Quanyin is rendered with a pleasing softness, her lovely features inclined as if listening toward samsara.
