WESTERN TIBET, 10TH-11TH CENTURY

The tenth through thirteenth century in the Western Himalayas was defined by the rise of Tibetan Buddhism, whose flourishing was aided by Kashmiri teachers and artisans. Developing Buddhist enclaves in the Western Himalayas sought out the refined, courtly style associated with Kashmir, and adopted it by collecting and copying their works. The art of Kashmir was the main source of inspiration for art in the Western Himalayas, and though it was not isolated from other artistic influences, this commanding figure of Avalokiteshvara attests to the heightened esteem for Kashmiri styles within Western Tibetan Buddhist art. What the Western Himalayans saw, admired, and imitated from Kashmir under the Guge Kingdom and their own interpretive articulation is well-preserved in this commanding figure of the Bodhisattva of Compassion.

Although this Avalokiteshvara shows distinct tenth-century Kashmiri aesthetics, it also retains characteristics derived from earlier established regional traditions. Mapping pre-tenth century Kashmir artistic styles reveals early influences from northwestern and northern India, followed by the emergence of a distinct regional idiom during the sixth century. It is during this period that the same long shin-length garland framing the body here is depicted on stone (J. Siudmak, The Hindu- Buddhist Sculpture of Ancient Kashmir and Its Influences, 2013, p. 148, fig. 57a), and this feature along with a tall-leafed tripartite crowns is rendered on a seventh-century Ardhanarishvara (P. Pal, The Arts of Kashmir, p. 34, fig.15). Avalokiteshvara's large beaded crown band decorated with floral rosettes above each ear also appears on a seventh century fragmentary Maya in a garden scene, conjuring on this figure the enduring tradition of Gandharan art in Kashmir (J. Siudmak, 2013, p. 203, pl. 85). A more cohesive example of the provincial Kashmir style from an eighth-century Maitreya shows many of these visual antecedents on this Avalokiteshvara including the large beaded band along the hair, necklace and wrists, rosettes secured along the crown that are reiterated again in the earrings, incised floral stripes along the dhoti, the crossed-motif along the abdomen, and the well-padded chin and jawline (ibid, 2013, p. 313, pl. 413).

The stylized iconography of a flat-faced, horned antelope skin positioned draping over the left shoulder, an attribute associated with Avalokiteshvara, has equally early Indic prototypes including a seventh-century sandstone from Sarnath (ibid, p. 213, pl. 90), a seventh-century Swat bronze cast (The Metropolitan Museum of Art; 1974.273) and another eighth-century Kashmir bronze cast (Asia Society, 1993.2). Both bronze casts bear copper lips and inlaid silver eyes and remain un-gilded, a stylistic preference that was heavily adopted into the Western Himalayan sculptures, and one that is captured in the elongated, supernatural silver eyes and tawny pursed lips of this sculpture.

By the tenth century, this unique style which largely remained unchanged for the following two centuries, can be generally defined by elements expressed in this sculpture which include a taut musculature, textural motifs, inlays of copper and silver, and fleshy-faced features. It is at this stage that the distinction between the parallel aesthetics of Kashmir and the Western Himalayas is often somewhat vague, limited because its place of production is generally unknown, and because of the Kashmiri material collected and commissioned by Western Himalayans. Under the direction of Yeshe-O (c. 959-1040), the Buddhist king who ruled the Purang-Guge Kingdom, the monk Rinchen Zangpo (985-1055) initiated largescale monastic construction projects employing Kashmiri artisans. This legacy is documented by the life-sized Avalokiteshvara inscribed by Rinchen Zanpo in Kashmir in 998 and installed in Khatse, Tibet the following year (U. von Schroeder, Buddhist Sculptures in Tibet, Vol. I, 2001, p. 71, fig. II-5).

Reflecting on these aesthetic initiatives, Dr. Pal suggests that two Bodhisattva sculptures are examples of these decoration projects for newly built temples in Guge (P. Pal, Himalayas: An Aesthetic Adventure, 2003, p. 135, no. 86). The larger sculpture from the Pritzker Collection, in particular, shares familiar elements with this Avalokiteshvara, including the hooped earrings with hanging floral pendants, waved sashes along the face, double-beaded arm band with triple hanging suspensions, and triple crescent-moon pendants along the crown.

Western Tibetan styles, as discussed by Michael Henss, suggest a more two-dimensional and "'graphic'" articulation of the figure, crown and details (M. Henss, ‘Buddhist Metal Images of Western Tibet, ca. 1000-1500 A.D.: Historical Evidence, Stylistic Consideration and Modern Myths’, in The Tibet Journal, Autumn & Winter, Vol. 27, No. 3⁄4, 2002, p. 27). Compared to two Kashmir Avalokiteshvara sculptures (ibid, 2002, fig. 5a-b), where there is more tendency towards naturalism, this figure, and that of the aforementioned Pritzker and Asia Society examples exhibit a more mannered tautness to the body as well as more stylized treatments of the crown and articulated petals of the lotus over the shoulder. This lotus style, the exaggerated crown, and the tightened space between the long garland and the body is also carried out on a large Maitreya (ibid, 2002, fig. 6) and another Avalokiteshvara (Los Angeles County Museum of Art, M.75.4.1), all of which seemingly suggest this figure exhibits more tendency towards Western Himalayan styles of Guge.