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SOUTH ASIAN OBJECTS FROM THE COLLECTION
INDIA
Sculpture from the Kushan Period
Sculpture from North India, 5th-7th Centuries
Jain sculpture
Sculpture of the Pala Period
Stone Sculpture from Hindu Temples
Sculptures from South India, 8th-9th Centuries
Bronze Sculpture of the Chola Period
Art for the Mughal and Rajput Courts
Hindu Temple Hangings
Buddhist Painting from India, Nepal, and Tibet
NEPAL
Buddhist Painting from India, Nepal, and Tibet
Sculpture from Nepal
PAKISTAN
Sculpture from the Kushan Period
SRI LANKA
Two Bodhisattvas from Sri Lanka
Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara
Nepal; Early Malla period (1200-1382), late 13th - early 14th century
Gilt copper alloy
H. 17 in. (43.2 cm)
Mr. and Mrs. John D. Rockefeller 3rd Collection of Asian Art
1979.051
Avalokiteshvara, the Bodhisattva of Compassion, can be identified by the lotus he holds in his left hand and by the small seated image of the Buddha Amitabha, his spiritual progenitor, in his crown. This image represents a form of Avalokiteshvara that was extremely popular in Nepal. The Asia Society Collection has three bronze examples of standing Avalokiteshvara that were executed hundreds of years apart but look very much alike owing to textually prescribed forms of depiction. While the treatment of the body, clothing, and jewelry on this sculpture is similar to that of the earlier examples in the Collection, the greater rigidity of his pose indicates that this sculpture dates from a later period. A large circular loop coming out of the image's back indicates that this figure once had a bodyhalo (mandorla) surrounding it.
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