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Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara

8th-9th century

Sri Lanka

Copper alloy

H. 4 5/8 x W. 1 5/28 x D. 1 in. (H. 11.7 cm)

Asia Society, New York: Mr. and Mrs. John D. Rockefeller 3rd Collection, 1979.81

Provenance

John D. Rockefeller 3rd, New York, NY; acquired from Peter Marks Works of Art Inc., New York, NY, 1968.

The Asia Society, New York, NY, bequest of John D. Rockefeller 3rd, New York, NY, 1979.

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This detailed sculpture depicts Avalokiteshvara, the Bodhisattva of Compassion, holding a flask filled with ambrosia in his left hand and making the "fear not" gesture with his right (abhaya mudra). He is identifiable by the seated Amitabha Buddha in his headdress, his spiritual father. His coiffure is finely rendered with piled-up loops of hair on top and braids in the back. This image's small size suggests that it was intended for personal devotion. It was reportedly found in southern Thailand but has been assigned a Sri Lankan origin, although the Shrivijayan kingdom which controlled peninsular Thailand and the Panduranga kingdom of southern Vietnam have also been proposed as the places of origin. The close ties between Sri Lankan and Southeast Asian sculpture, forged by the transmission of Buddhist thought and imagery along the trade routes, have yet to be fully defined by scholarship.