White-robed Guanyin (covered head)

White robed Guanyin, with a covered head, late 19th -early 20th century, Taiwan.

White-robed Guanyin (C. Báiyī Guānyīn 白衣觀音). A form of the bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara found in East Asian Buddhism.

There are a number of different variations of Guanyin in white robes. This form shows Guanyin with a covered head.

The Yale University Art Gallery states:

Known in Chinese as Guanyin, the Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara—the embodiment of compassion, the highest virtue in Buddhism—can take many manifestations, including a Chinese form that features the bodhisattva wearing a white robe that covers his head. This avatar, which first appeared around the tenth century C.E., is often conflated with another that shows Avalokiteshvara seated on a rock ledge near a body of swirling water, a reference to Mount Potalaka, his personal paradise. The five guardian figures in the background of this painting are the protectors of the four quadrants of the universe with an additional figure whose purpose is unknown. The signature at lower left is probably the religious name of the monk who painted this hanging scroll.