1. Durga from India The Goddess Durga Killing the Buffalo
Demon, Mahisha (Mahishasuramardini), Pala
period (ca. 750–1200), 12th century
West Bengal, India or Bangladesh
Purchase, Diana and Arthur G. Altschul Gift,
1993 (1993.7)
Metropolitan Museum of Art
Description
Among the most exquisitely carved objects from South Asia is a group of miniature Pala-style (about 750–1200) sculptures in one of two types of material: an extremely fine-grained yellow-beige stone, known as mudstone (which can take several forms, such as pyrophyllite or kaolinite) or an extremely fine-grained black or dark brown phyllite. Most portray Esoteric Buddhist deities; however, a few, such as this, represent Hindu divinities. Durga is portrayed as the sixteen-armed slayer of a buffalo inhabited by the fierce demon Mahisha. A threat to the world, Mahisha was invincible. Even the Hindu gods who had challenged him could not kill him. In desperation they created the goddess Durga to be their champion and gave her their weapons. A missing right hand held the spear with which she is about to stab Mahisha. In her other right hands she holds an arrow, sword, chisel, hammer, thunderbolt, elephant goad, and war discus. The objects in her left hands are a shield, bow, bell, mirror, and noose. Durga has just severed the buffalo's head with her many weapons. Mahisha, in the form of a tiny, chubby man, his head backed by snake heads, emerges from the buffalo's decapitated body and looks up admiringly at the warlike but beautiful Durga even as his toes are being bitten by her lion. Durga smiles serenely as she hoists Mahisha by his hair and treads gracefully on the buffalo's body. All of these narrative details are skillfully composed and placed on a double-lotus base in a carving no larger than a human hand. This sculpture must rank as one of the finest known Indian miniatures. Its astonishing plasticity and subtlety make it comparable to the finest large-scale Pala-period sculptures, while its size affords the viewer the delights of personal discovery.

2. Ganesha from India Central Indian Ganesha sandstone, 11th-12th century
Ackland Fund,
Ackland Art Museum,
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

3. Guan Yu from China Chinese, Ming Dynasty, 1368-1644 Guan Yu
wood, lacquer and lacquer paste, polychrome and gold,
leather and hair, 1490s
The William A. Whitaker Foundation Art Fund, 95.2
Ackland Art Museum,
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

4. Buddha from India Standing Buddha, Gupta period (ca.
319–500), 5th century
Uttar Pradesh, Mathura, India
Mottled red sandstone; H /16 in.
(85.5 cm), W. 16 3/4 in. (42.5 cm)
Purchase, Enid A. Haupt Gift, 1979
(1979.6)
Metropolitan Museum of Art

5. Fudo from Japan Wisdom King Fudo (Fudo Myo-o),
Heian period (794–1185), 12th century
Kyoto, Japan
Joined-woodblock construction with
pigments; H. 63 3/4 in. (162 cm)
The Harry G. C. Packard Collection of
Asian Art, Gift of Harry G. C. Packard,
and Purchase, Fletcher, Rogers, Harris
Brisbane Dick, and Louis V. Bell Funds,
Joseph Pulitzer Bequest, and The
Annenberg Fund Inc. Gift, 1975
( )
Metropolitan Museum of Art

6. Buddha from China Seated Buddha, Tang dynasty (618–907), ca. 650 China
Dry lacquer with traces of gilt and polychrome
pigments; 38 x 27 in. (96.5 x 68.6 cm)
Rogers Fund, 1919 (19.186)
Metropolitan Museum of Art

7. Krishna from India Krishna Battles the Armies of the
Demon Naraka: Page from a
Dispersed Bhagavata Purana, ca.
1520–30
Delhi-Agra area, India
Ink and opaque watercolor on paper; 7 x
9 1/8 in. (17.78 x cm)
Purchase, Lita Annenberg Hazen
Charitable Trust Gift, 1985 ( )
Metropolitan Museum of Art

8. Ganesha from India Seated Ganesha, 14th–15th century Orissa, India
Ivory; H. 7 1/4 in. (18.4 cm), W. 4 3/4 in.
(12.1 cm)
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. J. J. Klejman, 1964
(64.102)
Metropolitan Museum of Art

9. Shiva from India Shiva as Lord of Dance (Nataraja),
Chola period (880–1279), ca. 11th century
Tamil Nadu, India
Copper alloy; H. 26 7/8 in. (68.3 cm),
Diam. 22 1/4 in. (56.5 cm)
Gift of R. H. Ellsworth Ltd., in hon
Metropolitan Museum of Art

10. Parvati from India Standing Parvati, Chola period
(880–1279), ca. first quarter of the 10th
century
Tamil Nadu, India
Copper alloy; H. 27 3/8 in. (69.5 cm)
Bequest of Cora Timken Burnett, 1956
( )
Metropolitan Museum of Art

11. Bodhisattva from Nepal
Standing Bodhisattva Maitreya (The
Bodhisattva of the Future), 9th–10th
century
Nepal
Copper alloy with gilding and color; H.
26 (66 cm), W. 8 1/4 in. (20.9 cm)
Rogers Fund, 1982 ( )
Metropolitan Museum of Art

12. Jnanatapa from Tibet Portrait of Jnanatapa surrounded
by lamas and mahasiddhas, 14th
century
eastern Tibet
Distemper on cloth; 27 x 21 1/2 in. (68.6 x
54.6 cm)
Purchase, Friends of Asian Art Gifts, 1987
( )
Metropolitan Museum of Art

13. Yama from Tibet Yama, mid–17th–early 18th century Tibet
Ink, distemper, and gold on cloth; 72 3/8
x 46 5/8 in. (183.8 x cm)
Purchase, Florance Waterbury Bequest,
1969 (69.71)
Metropolitan Museum of Art

14. Avalokiteshvara from Thailand
Four-armed Avalokiteshvara (The
Bodhisattva of Infinite
Compassion), ca. second quarter of the
8th century
Prakhon Chai, Buriram Province, Thailand
Bronze with silver and black glass or
obsidian inlay in eyes; H. 56 in. (142.2
cm)
Rogers Fund, 1967 (67.234)
Metropolitan Museum of Art

15. Avalokiteshvara from Cambodia
Avalokiteshvara, Angkor period
(802–1431)-, fourth quarter of the
10th–first quarter of the 11th century;
Khmer style of Banteay Shrei
Cambodia or Thailand
Bronze with silver inlay; H. 22 3/4 in. (57.8
cm)
Purchase, The Annenberg Foundation
Gift, 1992 ( )
Metropolitan Museum of Art

16. Krishna on Garuda from Indonesia
Krishna on Garuda, Central Javanese
period (ca. 730–ca. 930), second half of
the 9th century
Java, Indonesia
Bronze; H. 15 7/16 in. (39.2 cm)
Purchase, Lita Annenberg Hazen
Charitable Trust Gift, 1992 ( )
Metropolitan Museum of Art

17. Warrior from Japan Bust of warrior, Kofun period
(3rd–7th century), 5th–6th century
Kanto region, Japan
Earthenware with painted, incised,
and applied decoration;
H. 13 1/8 in. (33.3 cm), W. 10 7/8 in. (27.6 cm)
The Harry G. C. Packard Collection of
Asian Art, Gift of Harry G. C. Packard,
and Purchase, Fletcher, Rogers, Harris
Brisbane Dick, and Louis V. Bell Funds,
Joseph Pulitzer Bequest, and The
Annenberg Fund Inc. Gift, 1975
( )
Metropolitan Museum of Art

18. Dancer from China Female dancer, 2nd century B. C.;
Early Western Han dynasty (206 B. C.-A. D. 9)
Chinese; China
Earthenware with slip and pigments; H. 21
in. (53.3 cm)
Charlotte C. and John C. Weber
Collection, Gift of Charlotte C. and John
C. Weber, 1992 ( )
Metropolitan Museum of Art

19. Tanpura Player from India
A Lady Playing the Tanpura, ca.1730–40
Kishangarh, Rajasthan, India
Ink, gold, opaque and transparent
watercolor on paper; 18 1/2 x 13 1/4 in.
(47 x cm)
Fletcher Fund, 1996 ( )
Metropolitan Museum of Art

20. Weigi Players from China
Playing Weiqi at the Water
Pavillion, Hanging scroll, mid–20th
century
Fu Baoshi (Chinese, 1904–1965)
China
Hanging scroll; ink and color on Korean
paper; 49 3/4 x 29 1/2 in. (126.4 x 74.9 cm)
Gift of Robert Hatfield Ellsworth, in
memory of La Ferne Hatfield Ellsworth,
1988 ( )
Metropolitan Museum of Art