Western Himalayas / around 1000
Eleven-Headed Bodhisattva of Compassion (Avalokiteshvara)
The Cleveland Museum of Art catalogs Eleven-Headed Bodhisattva of Compassion (Avalokiteshvara) as sculpture (Western Himalayas · around 1000).
The bottle in his lower-left hand contains the nectar of immortality.
A CLOSER LOOK
The museum identifies this sculpture as gilt bronze with silver and copper inlay.
The museum's collection notes: One of the finest surviving examples of its kind, this rare six-armed form of Avalokiteshvara has the slender athletic figure and penetrating expression associated with the art of Kashmir, the main source for western Tibetan styles. This Bodhisattva combines the qualities of a prince and an ascetic, with his crown and jewels combined with the yogi's antelope skin over his left shoulder and prayer beads in his middle right hand. Representing the range of Avalokiteshvara's forms and aspects, his eleven heads are remarkably articulated with individualized features. They follow textual descriptions that describe his three placid faces, three fier
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The Cleveland Museum of ArtEleven-Headed Bodhisattva of Compassion (Avalokiteshvara)Original explanation based on the sources above. Images carry their own reuse terms.