OBJECT GUIDE Sculpture from Asia Gallery 2
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1 Japanese, Late Heian period (898 1185) Standing Buddha, c. 12th century CE wood Gift of Ruth and Sherman Lee, 2003.35.4 Originally, this standing Buddha was attached to a wooden panel, which may have been a large round or oval mandorla, or frame. The artist uses the drapery s curving, nearly parallel lines to define the figure s torso and each limb, so that the clothing seems to cling to his body. Judging by the placement of the figure s left arm, his original left hand was in the boon-granting gesture (or mudra) and the missing right hand in the fear not mudra.
2 Indian, Gandhara region, Kushan period (100 BCE 300 CE) The Offering of Four Bowls to Buddha, 2nd century CE gray schist Gift of Clara T. and Gilbert J. Yager and Ackland Fund, 90.35 In the principal scene on this relief, Buddha is at the center and looks directly at the viewer. His companions flank him in symmetrical groups arranged in three tiers. On the other side of a standing figure in a niche, the left edge of another narrative scene appears, indicating that this is a fragment cut from a larger whole. Buddha is represented here with characteristic features: the knot on his head representing his infinite wisdom, his elongated earlobes recalling the heavy earrings he wore in his past as a prince, and his hand raised in the teaching mudra, or gesture. In the narrative depicted here, four princes present Buddha with four bowls. They first offered him gold bowls, but Buddha rejected them as too extravagant. They next offered silver bowls, which he also rejected. Then they gave him four stone bowls, which he considered a more appropriate material for a monk. Before accepting the gift, he miraculously merged the four bowls into one.
3 Nepalese, Malla dynasty (10th 18th century) Bhrikuti, the Female Companion of the White Avalokiteshvara, Lord of Compassion, 14th century wood with polychrome Gift of the Tyche Foundation, 2010.9 This elegant sculpture was originally covered with gesso and painted. It now has only traces of paint, which may suggest that it was ritually bathed once a year. At other times, it would likely have been covered with ornate textiles and ornaments. Bhrikuti originally formed part of a group in a Buddhist temple. She would have stood to the left of the bodhisattva of compassion, known as the White Avalokiteshvara, with another female companion, the deity Tara, standing to his right. The White Avalokiteshvara (literally, The Lord Who Looks Down from On High) was considered one of the guardian deities of the Kathmandu Valley of the Himalayan kingdom of Nepal. The figure of Bhrikuti has a fourth arm, now broken but visible in the image below; two of her missing hands would have held a coral tree and prayer beads, while the others formed gestures, including the gesture of reassurance.
4 Indian, possibly northeastern Rajasthan, southern Haryana, or Uttar Pradesh, Mathura region Vishnu in his Boar Incarnation (Varaha), late 11th century CE phyllite Gift of Clara T. and Gilbert J. Yager, 82.5.1 Varaha the boar is an incarnation of the Hindu god Vishnu. In this form, Vishnu fights for a thousand years with a demon who trapped the earth goddess beneath the ocean. She is seated on his left elbow with her hands in a gesture of gratitude to him for saving her. Vishnu s left foot rests firmly atop two serpent beings, and one of his right hands grasps a mace. His other attributes, a conch shell and a disc, appear in his two left hands. He is crowned by an umbrella-like lotus. Brahma (with three of his heads showing) is at the upper left of the sculpture and Shiva is at the upper right. Together with Vishnu, they represent the cycle of creation, preservation, and destruction of the universe. The smooth black phyllite and fine carving of this sculpture suggests that rather than occupying the exterior walls of a temple, this representation of Varaha would have been placed in the inner sanctum or a subsidiary shrine inside.
5 Indian, Tamil Nadu, Kaveri delta region, Chola period (880 1279 CE) Vishnu or Shiva, 11th century CE granite Ackland Fund, 82.6.1 The tall crown on this figure's head and the mace he leans on with his left hand indicate that it is one of two Hindu gods, either Vishnu or Shiva. The objects once held in the missing hands two right hands and one left would have provided definitive evidence of the figure's identity. The stone's surface is weathered and the back is relatively flat, suggesting that it was designed to adorn the exterior of a temple. Most, though not all, Hindu temples built in southern India during the Chola period were dedicated to Shiva. In the eleventh century two powerful kings ruled southern India, Rajaraja and his son Rajendra I. Both sponsored Hindu temples that became famous for their elaborate sculpted decoration.
6 Indian, possibly Madhya Pradesh, active mid-10th to mid-11th century CE Dancing Ganesha, mid-10th to mid-11th century CE sandstone Gift of Clara T. and Gilbert J. Yager, 85.2.1 Ganesha, one of the most popular Hindu deities, appears here with several of his attributes, including an axe. He holds a bowl of sweets in one of his left hands. He raises his right foot to dance to the music of his attendants. His mode of transportation, a tiny mouse, is in the lower left of the sculpture. One of the narratives about Ganesha explains how he got his elephant head: his mother, the goddess Parvati, created him to guard her while she bathed. When her husband Shiva returned home, he saw Ganesha emerging from her doorway, but did not recognize him and decapitated him. To atone, he vowed to give Ganesha the first head he saw which was an elephant s head. Ganesha is called the Lord of Auspicious Beginnings. He is often invoked when initiating a new undertaking to remove any obstacles to success. This carving would have adorned the exterior wall of a northern Indian temple at the place where devotees began their circumambulations of the temple.
7 Syrian, Mamluk period (1250 1517 CE), Akkoyunlu dynasty (1378 1508 CE) Mosque Lamp, 15th century CE glass, polychrome enamel, and gold The William A. Whitaker Foundation Art Fund, 97.13 The tall and elongated inscriptions on the neck and body of this lamp are written in what is known as thuluth script. It repeats the term al- alim (the wise), which represents God s omniscience, total comprehension, and complete intuition. In a mosque interior, many lamps like this could be suspended from the ceiling with chains that attached to the small handles visible on the exterior. Filled with oil and fitted with a floating wick, their shining light would have created the appearance of divine illumination. Judging by its size, quality, and inscriptions, this lamp was likely produced for the commercial rather than courtly market. The circular and lozenge-shapes on the neck and the lower portion of the body, for example, appear hastily executed. They contain a horizontal bar of fake text and a flourish-like symbol, elements that were likely meant to imitate the appearance of lamps made for aristocratic patrons.
8 Indian, Golconda region, Andhra Pradesh, Qutb Shahi dynasty (1496 1687 CE) Mosque Lintel with Calligraphy, 1570 black basalt Ackland Fund, 97.14.2 On the burnished surface of this lintel are calligraphic inscriptions in both Persian and Arabic. The Persian inscription on the outer register provides information about the patron (the court poet Mulla Khayali), the mosque's date of completion (1570), and the current ruler (Ibrahim Quli Qutb Shah, reigned 1550-80). The Arabic inscription on the inner register comes from the Hadith, or the sayings of Muhammad, and underscores the significance of daily prayer as one of the pillars of Islam. Black basalt inscriptions were characteristic of the Deccan sultanates of the area around Hyderabad and Golconda. Panels with inscriptions in thuluth script like the one on this lintel were common in architecture of the Qutb Shahi dynasty and are abundant in Mulla Khayali's mosque. Black basalt columns were also used in Hindu temples in the region.
9 s Swiss and Indian, active 19th century CE Watch and Compass, late 19th century CE brass, enamels, silver overlay, and glass Ackland Fund, 96.3.2 On the face of this watch, an inscription in Urdu indicates that it was made in Switzerland; another gives the name of its original owner: Sheikh Hadji Rahim Bakhsh, a Shi ite gem merchant from Ludhiana, a market town in the Punjab. The star and crescent on the face may be a trademark of the Indian workshop where the decorations in calligraphy were inscribed. Other inscriptions in Arabic include invocations and prayers. Since this object is both a watch and a compass (in the stem), it could indicate both the time (dawn, midday, later afternoon, sunset, and evening) and the direction (toward Mecca) for Muslim prayer. The watch s case is decorated with four concentric bands of blue, green, red, and white enamel that form a star in the center.