Images

This lovely apsara comes from the city of My Son in what now present-day Vietnam. It was created while the region was ruled by the kingdom of Champa. It is made of sandstone and dates from the 10th century CE. (Museum Rietberg, Zürich).

This ancient statue of the Hindu goddess Uma (Parvarti) is rendered in the pre-Angkor style of Prasat Andet. It comes from Cambodia, it is made from standstone, and it dates to the late 7th or early 8th century CE. (Museum Rietberg, Zürich...

This sandstone statue of Ganesha (Ganesh) comes from India and was made during the era of the Chandela dynasty, which ruled over large swaths of central India. This specimen was created in the 1000s CE. (Museum Rietberg, Zürich).

This figure of a greyhound was made in the area between China's Shaanxi and Henan provinces during the Tang Dynasty, around c. 750 CE. (Museum Rietberg, Zürich).

This fragment of a wooden bodhisattva head comes from Japan and was made during the Kamakura Period during the 13th century CE. (Museum Rietberg, Zürich).

This beautiful vessel in the shape of a duck and rhyton comes from China's Henan province, and it was made at the Gongxian kilns during the Tang Dynasty. It is believed to have been created during the 8th century CE. (Museum Rietberg, Zürich...

This votive of Maitreya, the Buddha of the future as a bodhisattva, dates from the early 6th century CE during the Northern Wei Dynasty, and it is made of chalkstone. It comes from the Longmen Cave Temples in China's Henan province. (Museum...

This standing bodhisattva made of Sandstone comes from Cave 14 from the renown temples of Tianlongshan in China's Shanxi province. The influence from Greco-Roman art as well as South Asian art is palpable. It was made during the Tang Dynasty...

This basket made of wickerwork dates from c. 1100-800 BCE and comes from a former pile-dwelling settlement near Zürich, Switzerland. (Landesmuseum, Zürich).

Gigaku is a masked drama performed to music. It was introduced to Japan from China and Korea in the 600s CE and was staged at the court and in Buddhist temples. The mask maybe for the character Taikoji, a youth. Or, perhaps it was used by...