Lokeshvara with raised arm

11th century

Although only a fragment, we can identify this gentle image as Lokeshvara (Avalokiteshvara, the Bodhisattva of Compassion) thanks to the small meditating Buddha nestled in his crown. Made at the height of the Khmer Empire, which controlled much of what is today Cambodia and Thailand, this Lokeshvara displays a curious pose. Other Khmer Lokeshvara images face front with their arms downward; this figure’s head turns to his left and his left arm, now broken, was clearly raised above shoulder level.

Stone

13 1/2 x 10 1/2 x 6 1/2 in. (34.29 x 26.67 x 16.51 cm)

Eugene Fuller Memorial Collection

34.68

Provenance: Collection of Horace Geoffrey (H.G.) Quaritch Wales (1900-1981), England; [Gump's, San Francisco]; purchased from gallery by Seattle Art Museum (partly in trade, Eugene Fuller Memorial Collection), April 17, 1934

Now on view at the Asian Art Museum

Resources

Exhibition HistorySan Francisco, California, San Francisco Museum of Art, Art in Asia and the West, 1957.

New York, New York, Asia Society, Khmer Sculpture, 1961-62. Cat. no. 8.

Seattle, Washington, Seattle World's Fair Fine Arts Pavilion, Art of the Ancient East, 1962.

Portland, Oregon, Portland Art Museum, Gift to a City: Masterworks from the Eugene Fuller Memorial Collection in the Seattle Art Museum, Nov. 3 - 28, 1965. Cat. no. 96.

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

Published ReferencesFuller, Richard E. "The Beauty of Oriental Art." Today's Art, Dec. 1, 1969: pp. 20-21.

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