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Tara

ca. 7th century
Not on view
This elegant, full-bodied figure of a Buddhist saviouress holding a long-stemmed lotus suggests affiliations with Avalokiteshvara, the bodhisattva of compassion. The highly modeled jeweled girdle and flowing sashes hanging free of the body point to a seventh-century date, placing her among the earliest representations of Tara known from North India. The closest analogy is a bejeweled Gaja Lakshmi depicted on a copper seal with Brahmi script datable to the sixth or seventh century, excavated near Haridwar, in Uttar Pradesh.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Tara
  • Date: ca. 7th century
  • Culture: North India (possibly Uttar Pradesh)
  • Medium: Copper alloy
  • Dimensions: H. 12 in. (30.5 cm)
  • Classification: Sculpture
  • Credit Line: Samuel Eilenberg Collection, Ex Coll.: Columbia University, Purchase, Friends of Asian Art Gifts, 1987
  • Object Number: 1987.218.4
  • Curatorial Department: Asian Art

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