Seated figure of Bodhisattva with Sino-Tibetan style: double lotus pedestal on rectangular base

Several dates have been proposed for this sculpture since its acquisition in 1913 by Charles Lang Freer, who unrealistically believed it dated to the Song dynasty (960-1279). The work mixes Chinese and Tibetan features, such as the Tibetan-style pointed crown with upswept ribbons. Because of this stylistic blend of features, the eminent sinologist Osvald Siren redated the sculpture in 1962 to the eighteenth century, when a number of imperial temples in China were dedicated to the practice of Tibetan Buddhism.

In fact, the sculpture's combination of Tibetan and Chinese Buddhist imagery marks an earlier period of interaction, in the fourteenth century, between these two cultures. Several securely dated comparisons for this image exist, including Yuan dynasty (1279-1368) stone sculptures carved into a cliff at Feilaifeng, in the southern Chinese city of Hangzhou. The full face, headdress, and jewelry of the Freer's sculpture also compare closely with Yuan dynasty portable images, some of which were excavated in Inner Mongolia. The distinctive body-shaped halo seen here has holes drilled into it that once held a metal framework, which probably created an impression of flaming light.