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A brass sculpture of one large man and two smaller men sitting on a decorated pedestal.

The brass sculpture is of a man sitting on a decorated pedestal. On his left and right sides are two smaller men on smaller pedestals that are attached to the center one. The pedestal is decorated with swirling details and two small men kneeling with their arms up underneath the man in the center. The three men on the pedestal are all sitting cross-legged with their arms bent and hands together in front of their chests. They are all wearing a cloth around their waists, necklaces, and decorated crowns. They all have a second pair of arms holding small objects above their shoulders. The man in the center has a third set of arms which has its hands on his knees.

Gallery Text

Merchants trading in Silk Road goods, South and Central Asian Buddhist proselytizers, and pilgrims who had traveled to India to study Buddhism at its source brought countless paintings, scriptures, and small bronze sculptures to China and Tibet. These later served as the inspirations for works commissioned by local patrons. Few early Chinese and Tibetan bronze sculptures, and even fewer Indian prototypes, survive, as later generations melted them down to make coins, weapons, or new icons. The fine statues on display here may have been objects of devotion that were set in portable shrines, like the Korean example in the case to the right, for worship in lay people’s homes.

Identification and Creation

Object Number
1991.80
Title
Seated, Six-Armed Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara Flanked by Seated Târâ Figures
Other Titles
Alternate Title: Avalokitesvara
Classification
Sculpture
Work Type
figurine, sculpture
Date
probably 13th century
Places
Creation Place: South Asia, Tibet
Culture
Tibetan
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/200743

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Brass with inlays of silver, copper, and turquoise
Dimensions
H. 10.4 x W. 8.9 x D. 6.2 cm (4 1/8 x 3 1/2 x 2 7/16 in.)

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History
Vera M. MacDonald, Cambridge, MA (by 1991), gift; to Harvard University Art Museums, 1991.

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Gift of Vera M. MacDonald in memory of John Dolliver MacDonald
Accession Year
1991
Object Number
1991.80
Division
Asian and Mediterranean Art
Contact
am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu
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Exhibition History

  • Re-View: S228-230 Arts of Asia, Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Cambridge, 05/31/2008 - 06/01/2013
  • 32Q: 1610 Buddhist Art I, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, 11/16/2014 - 06/18/2024

Subjects and Contexts

  • Google Art Project

Verification Level

This record has been reviewed by the curatorial staff but may be incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. For more information please contact the Division of Asian and Mediterranean Art at am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu