Partial votive structure with the Buddhist Cosmos

ca. second half of the 9th century

This delicate architectural model acted as a three-dimensional diagram of the Buddhist cosmos. On the four sides sit large opposed bodhisattvas, each flanked by a male and female attendant. Above their heads rest twelve Buddhas in differing postures. The repetition and hierarchy of images reflect a moment when the evolving form of eastern Indian Buddhism was developing greater complexity in its rituals. This eventually transformed into the strictly ordered systems familiar in the Himalayan region today. Exactly what fit into the hole to crown this rare piece remains a mystery.

Ivory

4 1/2 in. (11.43 cm)

48.166

Photo: Elizabeth Mann

Now on view at the Asian Art Museum

Resources

Exhibition HistorySeattle, Washington, Seattle Asian Art Museum, Discovering Buddhist Art - Seeking the Sublime", July 9, 2003 - June 3, 2005

Los Angeles, California, Los Angeles County Museum, "Arts of Greater India", 1950 (1950)

Rochester, New York, Memorial Art Gallery of University of Rochester, "Art India", 1961 (1961)

Seattle Art Museum, Seattle, Washington, "Indian Buddhist Sculpture", February 3 - August 20, 1990, (02/03/1990 - 08/20/1990)

Seattle, Washington, Seattle Asian Art Museum, Boundless: Stories of Asian Art, Feb. 8, 2020 - ongoing.

Published References"Art of Greater India," Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum, 1950, no. 74, p. 45

"Art of India," Rochester, N.Y.: University of Rochester, Memorial Art Gallery, 1961, fig. 29

"Encyclopedia of World Art," Vol. XI, 1966, pl. 9

Dohanian, Diran K. "The Wata-dā-gē, in Ceylon: The Circular-Relic-House of Polannaruva and Its Antecedents," in Archives of Asian Art, Vol. 23 (1969/1970), pp. 31-40, illus. p. 39

Dwivedi, V.P., "Ivoires Indiens," or "A Pair of Ivory Figures from Orissa," in Arts Asiatiques, 16:62, 1967

Government of India, Ministry of Home Affairs, Office of the Registrar General's 1961 Census of Handicraft and Social Studies.

"Handbook, Seattle Art Museum: Selected Works from the Permanent Collections." Seattle, WA: Seattle Art Museum, 1951, p. 28 (b&w)

Joice, Gail, Michael Knight, and Pamela McClusky. "Ivories in the Collection of the Seattle Art Museum." Seattle, WA: Seattle Art Museum, 1987, no. 7, p. 11

Lee, Sherman E. "Journal of the India Society," in Oriental Art, Vol. XVII, 1949

Lee, Sherman E. Review of LACM "Art of Greater India catalgoue, in Artibus Asiae, 1950

Lee, Sherman E. Review of "The Art of Greater India, 3000 B.C.-1800 A.D." by Henry Trubner, in Artibus Asiae, Vol. 13 No. 1/2 (1950), p. 119-121.

Marcus, Margaret F. "Sculptures from Bihar and Bengal," in The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art, Vol. 54, No. 8 (Oct., 1967), pp. 240-262; p. 260, figs. 20, 20a

"Selected Works." Seattle, WA: Seattle Art Museum, 1991, p. 145

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