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The Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara
(Southeast Asia )
The last great king of Angkor, Jayavarman VII, turned away from the Hinduism of his predecessors and adopted Mahayana ("great vehicle") Buddhism. He thought of the bodhisattva (eventual Buddha) Avalokiteshvara, embodiment of compassion, as his spiritual father and identified his own father with him. Avalokiteshvara has a small image of the Buddha of the western paradise on his headdress.
Inscription
Provenance
Provenance (from the French provenir, 'to come from/forth') is the chronology of the ownership, custody, or location of a historical object. Learn more about provenance at the Walters.
New Road, Bangkok, prior to August 1949; Alexander B. Griswold, Monkton, August 1949, by purchase [presented to the Breezewood Foundation, December 1960, inv. no. 458]; Walters Art Museum, 1992, by bequest.
Exhibitions
| 1995 | Unearthly Elegance: Buddhist Art from the Griswold Collection. The Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore. |
Geographies
Cambodia, Angkor (Place of Origin)
Measurements
3 1/8 x 6 5/16 in. (8 x 16 cm)
with tang 7 3/16 in. (18.3 cm)
Credit Line
Bequest of A. B. Griswold, 1992
Location in Museum
Not on view
Accession Number
In libraries, galleries, museums, and archives, an accession number is a unique identifier assigned to each object in the collection.
In libraries, galleries, museums, and archives, an accession number is a unique identifier assigned to each object in the collection.
54.2689