Bodhisattva

Despite the severe damage inflicted to this representation of a bodhisattva during China’s Cultural Revolution (1966–1976), including several prominent bullet holes, the elegance and beauty of the image are still apparent. His translucent garment models his legs and the sacred thread draped over his left shoulder follows the contours of his chest. He once wore a three-leaved crown, now damaged. Insets for now-missing precious stones such as rubies, emeralds, and rock crystal are visible in the crown, earrings, necklace, and armlets.

The large-scale sculpture, created with a single hollow casting, was likely made by Newar craftsmen as part of a large set of bodhisattvas for one of the great monasteries of central Tibet and is comparable to similar images preserved in Shalu and Sera Monasteries. Newar craftsmen, from the Kathmandu Valley in Nepal, were highly valued throughout the Himalayas for their artistic skills, especially in metal work and painting, and were often recruited in Tibet for major commissions such as this one by the wealthy monasteries that could afford them.