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Thousand-armed, Eleven-headed Avalokiteshvara
Tibetan
18th–19th century
Object Place: Tibet
Medium/Technique
Opaque watercolor and gold on cotton, mounted with silk brocade and wood dowels
Dimensions
Overall: 120 x 70.5cm (47 1/4 x 27 3/4in.)
Other (Image): 62 x 40cm (24 7/16 x 15 3/4in.)
Other (Image): 62 x 40cm (24 7/16 x 15 3/4in.)
Credit Line
Gift of Edward W. Forbes
Accession Number08.185
NOT ON VIEW
CollectionsAsia
ClassificationsPaintings
DescriptionPainting in hanging scroll (thangka) format, with streamers, veil and decorative stitched borders.
Eleven-headed Avalokiteshvara stands with his thousand arms spread in a circle around him. Below are Bodhisattvas; running counterclockwise from upper left: White Tara, Manjushri, Green Tara, Vajrapani, and Vajrasattva. Above, Shakyamuni sits in the upper left corner with the Medicine Buddha below him, a Dalai Lama sits at center, with two Gelugpa lamas seated below him, and Padmasambhava sits in the upper right corner with an unidentified monk below him.
Eleven-headed Avalokiteshvara stands with his thousand arms spread in a circle around him. Below are Bodhisattvas; running counterclockwise from upper left: White Tara, Manjushri, Green Tara, Vajrapani, and Vajrasattva. Above, Shakyamuni sits in the upper left corner with the Medicine Buddha below him, a Dalai Lama sits at center, with two Gelugpa lamas seated below him, and Padmasambhava sits in the upper right corner with an unidentified monk below him.
InscriptionsOn reverse: In formal Tibetan block script, "Om, ah, hum" behind each figure, plus a longer inscription, to be read.
Provenance1908, Edward W. Forbes, Cambridge, MA; 1908, gift of Forbes to the MFA. (Accession Date: April 9, 1908)