2010.461: Buddhist Votive Plaque with Three Seated Bodhisattvas

Identification and Creation

Object Number

2010.461

Title

Buddhist Votive Plaque with Three Seated Bodhisattvas

Classification

Plaques

Work Type

plaque

Date

perhaps 18th-19th century

Places

Creation Place: South Asia, Tibet

Culture

Tibetan

Persistent Link

https://hvrd.art/o/315460

Physical Descriptions

Medium

Molded buff earthenware

Dimensions

H. 7.1 x W. 6.2 x D. 1.2 cm (2 13/16 x 2 7/16 x 1/2 in.)

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History

Edmund Lin (1928-2006; Professor, Harvard Medical School), Boston; by bequest to the Harvard Art Museum

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line

Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Bequest of Edmund Chi Chien Lin

Accession Year

2010

Object Number

2010.461

Division

Asian and Mediterranean Art

Contact

am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu

Permissions

The Harvard Art Museums encourage the use of images found on this website for personal, noncommercial use, including educational and scholarly purposes. To request a higher resolution file of this image, please submit an online request.

Descriptions

Description

This small votive plaque has a flat bottom, nearly vertical sides, and a scalloped top in the form of an ogival arch. This Buddhist plaque features three bodhisattvas, each molded in low relief and each seated on a lotus base and before a mandorla. Two bodhisattvas appear side side-by-side in the lower half of the plaque; a single bodhisattva sits in the narrower, upper half of the plaque. Scrolling clouds (or possibly scrolling foliage) fill the interstices of the design. The back and sides of the plaque are undecorated. It is possible that the plaque--or at least its front face--originally might have been painted; if so, all traces of pigment have vanished. The surfaces of this plaque are a bit indistinct, either through wear or, more likely, through its creation with an old, well-used, and much-worn mold.

Verification Level