This figure, which has been formed from cast bronze, represents Kannon bosatsu (Skt. Avalokiteśvara). It appears to have been a convex mold for creating repoussé images. This Kannon statue has a single large-scale transformed Buddha (kebutsu) atop its head and exhibits the pronounced realism of the Tang Chinese style. A repoussé Buddhist statue is produced by setting a malleable bronze plate over this type of convex mold and hammering out the form with a mallet.
 
Yasuo Inamoto 
Masterworks from the Nara Buddhist Sculpture Hall at the Nara National Museum. Nara National Museum, 2012, p.125, no.170.