A delicately sculpted, polished black stone figure of Padmapani (Avalokitesvara) standing on a lotus pedestal, the face meditative and serene, holding a lotus stem in his left hand and with his right hand lowered in varadamudra (the granting of wishes), the aureole decorated with flames, vines and lotuses; wearing a thin dhoti and extensive jewellery including an intricate necklace with a lion mask at its centre.

The bodhisattva Avalokitesvara (also referred to as Padmapani) is, along with his female counterpart Prajnaparamita, a popular subject in Nepalese art. For an ivory figure of Avalokitesvara from the same period, see cat. no. 163 in G. Kreisel, Linden-Museum Stuttgart: Südasien-Abteilung, Linden-Museum Stuttgart, 1987. The style of the lotus base, jewellery and the comma shapes of the flame motif on the aureole are similar to an example in the LA County Museum of Art dated to the 15th century- see cat. no. S37 in P. Pal, Art of Nepal: A Catalogue of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art Collection, LACMA and University of California Press, 1985.