Scholars have long disagreed on the attribution of this enigmatic unfired clay sculpture. Two diverse general origins have been proposed: The first and original attribution is Fondukistan, Afghanistan or the Indo-Iranian border regions, circa 8th century (Rosenfield, 1966, p. 39, no. 27; and Slusser, 2001, pp. 79-80, figs. 7, 7a.). The second and revised attribution, followed here, is Tibet, 11th-12th century/Tibet (by a Newar artist), 12th-13th century (Pal 1983 and 1990, p. 191, no. S1; and Christian Luczanits, personal communication to Stephen Markel, 2005). See Mary Shepherd Slusser, "Nepalese Unfired Clay Sculpture: A Case Study," Orientations 32:7 (September 2001): 71-80.
The LACMA sculpture was formed with a segmented iron armature covered by layers of hemp-fiber filled unfired clay. Gesso was applied as a primer prior to painting. The sculpture is heavily restored, with the only original parts being the face, shoulders, and torso down to the knees, including the painted white skin tone of the face and variegated patterning of the dhoti. The arms and legs are restorations, including the floral armlets and lower sash medallions above the knees.
The identification of the figure is also uncertain, but it may be an attendant bodhisattva. The pronounced déhanchement of the posture with the hips thrust out is not uncommon in Tibetan and Nepalese bodhisattvas. For a similar but now fragmentary clay bodhisattva in situ at Tholing, see Christian Luczanits, Buddhist Sculpture in Clay: Early Western Himalayan Art, Late 10th to Early 13th Centuries (Chicago: Serindia Publications, 2004), p. 32, fig. 14. See also Susan S. Bean, Clay Works: Earthen Sculpture in South Asia (London: Bloomsbury Visual Art, 2026).
A comparable bodhisattva, albeit made of gilt copper and not as attenuated, is in the Cleveland Museum of Art (1956.8) where it is identified as Manjushri. See its alternate identification as Avalokiteshvara in Himalayan Art Resources, no. 59235, https://www.himalayanart.org/items/59235.
See also M.90.195.