- Title
- Portrait of a Noblewoman
- Date Made
- 13th century
- Medium
- Wood with paint and gilding
- Dimensions
- 20 3/8 x 8 x 6 1/4 in. (51.75 x 20.32 x 15.88 cm)
- Accession Number
- AC1993.147.1
- Collecting Area
- South and Southeast Asian Art
- Curatorial Notes
This unusual wooden sculpture of an unidentified elite woman standing on a lotus base has highly individualized facial features with staring eyes. This suggests that it may be a portrait, perhaps of a female donor or a royal patroness portrayed as an honorific attendant to a deity or Buddhist master. She wears a headdress with a lotus medallion, heavy jewelry including a square amulet box (ga’u), jacket, and long robe. The figure may have originally been part of a group of wooden sculptures in a temple niche or shrine.
- Selected Bibliography
- Pal, Pratapaditya et al. Tibet: Tradition and Change. Albuquerque, NM: The Albuquerque Museum, 1997.
