Head of Lokeshvara (late 1100s–early 1200s): Art, History and Details

Head of Lokeshvara (late 1100s–early 1200s) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection.

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

At Banteay Chhmar, none of the three-dimensional stone sculptures that were installed in the temple buildings remain standing. Only fragments of five stone sculptures of Lokeshvara have been found, and more may be recovered with future clearing of the site. This head is stylistically similar to the ones from Banteay Chhmar and is of the type made throughout Cambodia during the reign of Jayavarman VII. Lokeshvara was the form under which his father was apotheosized and venerated. Traces of black lacquer on the stone’s surface remain from when the head was probably refashioned into another image, likely reused for other Buddhist groups who became influential in the post-Angkorian period whose main focus was the historical Buddha rather than Lokeshvara. The lacquer, however, preserved the stone carving beneath, and it shows how the face of the bas-relief of the ten-armed Lokeshvara from Banteay Chhmar would have looked, had it not become eroded by exposure to the elements. The downcast eyes have a compassionate and meditative gaze, while the mouth smiles gently in the confidence of the power of his mercy. The small figure of a seated Buddha in front of the topknot of hair confirms his identity as Lokeshvara.

Object facts

• Title: Head of Lokeshvara
• Date: late 1100s–early 1200s
• Culture: Cambodia, reign of Jayavarman 7th
• Type: Sculpture
• Technique: Sandstone
• Dimensions: Overall: 35.3 cm (13 7/8 in.)
• Collection: Cambodian Art
• Department: Indian and Southeast Asian Art
• Accession number: 1955.47

Collection credit

Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund

Further reading listed by the museum

• Ward, William. "Buddhist Head." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 43, no. 1 (January 1956): 5-6.
• The Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art Handbook. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1958.
• Marcus, Margaret F. “Buddha Sheltered by Mucalinda.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 52, no. 7 (September 1965): 185–93.

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.