H: 20.5 cm

Maitreya, also know as ‘Ci Shi’ in Chinese, is one of the Eight Great Bodhisattvas. According to Buddhist texts, Maitreya often sits in his heavenly palace in the Tushita paradise, teaching the pure dharma to deities and lamas, as a Bodhisattva. After Gautama Buddha got nirvana, Maitreya became the successor to him. He will appear in the future, at a time when the Buddha's teachings have been forgotten, and reintroduce his teachings to the world, as a Buddha. This particular figure appears to be a figure of Maitreya as a Bodhisattva.