Untitled

Unknown

ca. 7th century · Copper alloy · Asian Art

This elegant, full-bodied figure of a Buddhist saviouress holding a long-stemmed lotus suggests affiliations with Avalokiteshvara, the bodhisattva of compassion. The highly modeled jeweled girdle and flowing sashes hanging free of the body point to a seventh-century date, placing her among the earliest representations of Tara known from North India. The closest analogy is a bejeweled Gaja Lakshmi depicted on a copper seal with Brahmi script datable to the sixth or seventh century, excavated near Haridwar, in Uttar Pradesh.

Artist

Unknown

Date

ca. 7th century

Medium

Copper alloy

Culture

North India (possibly Uttar Pradesh)

Department

Asian Art

Credit line

Samuel Eilenberg Collection, Ex Coll.: Columbia University, Purchase, Friends of Asian Art Gifts, 1987