The Kashmir Collection at the Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the United States. With 7.06 million visitors in 2016, it was the third most visited art museum in the world, and the fifth most visited museum of any kind. Its permanent collection contains over two million works,divided among seventeen curatorial departments. 

The Met's Asian department holds a collection of Asian art, of more than 35,000 pieces,[26] that is arguably the most comprehensive in the US. The collection dates back almost to the founding of the museum: many of the philanthropists who made the earliest gifts to the museum included Asian art in their collections. Today, an entire wing of the museum is dedicated to the Asian collection, and spans 4,000 years of Asian art. Every Asian civilization is represented in the Met's Asian department, and the pieces on display include every type of decorative art, from painting and printmaking to sculpture and metalworking. The department is well known for its comprehensive collection of Chinese calligraphy and painting, as well as for its Indian sculptures, Nepalese and Tibetan works, and the arts of Burma (Myanmar), Cambodia and Thailand. All three ancient religions of India – Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism – are well represented in these sculptures.

From the Indian Art one of the most elegant Collection is the one of Kashmiri Stone / Bronze and other sculptures which underline the development of this Art by the Kashmiri Carftsman who were without any doubt one of the best when it came to sculpting Stone and Metal. Some of the pieces are Cataloged as under.

Buddha

Date: ca. 9th century / Culture: India (Jammu and Kashmir, ancient kingdom of Kashmir) / Medium: Copper with silver inlay / Dimensions: H. 7 1/16 in. (17.9 cm); W. 3 7/8 in. (9.8 cm) / Classification: Metalwork

Buddha sits in a yogic posture, wearing a high tripartite crown and fully articulated robes. His lowered hand grants boons to the male donor kneeling before him presenting an offering, likely a garland. The crown with flying ribbons demonstrates the powerful influence of Sasanian royal imagery on later Kashmiri art.

Buddha Bust

Date: 8th century / Culture: India (Jammu & Kashmir, ancient kingdom of Kashmir) / Medium: Stone / Dimensions: Gr. H. 2 5/16 x Gr. W. 1 3/4 in. (5.9 x 4.5 cm) / Classification: Sculpture

Gaja Lakshmi, Goddess of Fortune

Date: 8th century / Culture: India (Jammu and Kashmir, ancient kingdom of Kashmir) / Medium: Stone / Dimensions: H. 6 3/8 in. (16.2 cm); W. 5 3/4 (14.6 cm); D. 2 1/16 in. (5.2 cm) / Classification: Sculpture

Panel from a Portable Shrine: The Descent of the Buddha from Trayastrimsha Heaven

Date: 7th–8th century / Culture: India (Jammu and Kashmir, ancient kingdom of Kashmir), / Medium: Ivory with traces of color / Dimensions: H. 2 1/2 (6.4 cm); W. 1 3/4 in. (4.5 cm) / Classification: Ivories

This diminutive panel depicts the Buddha’s descent from Trayastrimsha heaven, where he visited to preach the Buddhist gospel (dharma) to his mother, who had died soon after his birth. The three steps below his feet indicate the ladder upon which he descended. This miracle was widely depicted in the early Buddhist world. Here, umbrella and flywhisk bearers attend the Buddha, while airborne celebrants present garlands.

Torso of Vishnu

Date: ca. 6th century / Culture: India (Jammu & Kashmir, ancient kingdom of Kashmir) /  Medium: Stone / Dimensions: H. 7 13/16 x W. 3 3/16 x D. 1 1/8 in. (19.9 x 8.1 x 2.9 cm) / Classification: Sculpture

Kamadeva, the God of Love

Date: second half of the 8th century / Culture: India (Jammu and Kashmir, ancient kingdom of Kashmir) / Medium: Stone / Dimensions: H. 14 5/8 in. (37.2 cm); W. 2 3/8 in. (6 cm); D. 11 5/8 in. (29.5 cm) / Classification: Sculpture

Though rarely represented in Kashmiri art, Kama, the god of love, is here identified by a wondrous mythical creature (makara), who spews arrows from its jaws. The bow and arrow and a pair of lovebirds are Kamadeva’s principal identifiers. This subject is a rare survivor from early medieval Kashmir.

Linga with Face of Shiva (Ekamukhalinga)

Date: 7th century / Culture: India (Jammu and Kashmir, ancient kingdom of Kashmir) / Medium: Stone / Dimensions: H. 14 in. (35.5 cm) / Classification: Sculpture

Head of a Male Figure

Date: 6th–7th century / Culture: India (Jammu and Kashmir, possibly Akhnur) / Medium: Terracotta / Dimensions: H. ca. 5 1/4 in. (13.3 cm) / Classification: Sculpture

A major Buddhist monastery and stupa site was excavated at Akhnur (Akhnoor), near Jammu, revealing a series of both large- and small-scale terracotta reliefs decorating the monuments. These heads once formed part of those sculptural programs and likely depict Buddhist laity.

Reliquary in the Shape of a Stupa

Date: 7th–9th century / Culture: Northwest India (Jammu and Kashmir, ancient kingdom of Kashmir) / Medium: Copper alloy / Dimensions: H. 4 in. (10.2 cm) / Classification: Metalwork

Vajrapani

Date: late 6th–7th century / Culture: India (Kashmir) / Medium: Gray chorite / Dimensions: H. 9 in. (22.9 cm); H. inc. base 10 1/4 in. (26 cm); W. 5 3/8 in. (13.7 cm) / Classification: Sculpture

This powerful figurine is best understood as the Mahayana bodhisattva Vajrapani, who appropriated the lighting-bolt scepter (Skt: vajra) of Indra, the Vedic storm god, and repurposed it. Its meaning shifted from that being associated with the life-affirming power of storms (e.g. the monsoons), to the Buddhist savior Vajrapani, who facilitates journeying the path of enlightenment and aiding crystal clear thought as penetrating as a lighting strike.

In this, among the earliest representations known from the greater Kashmir world, the double-ended thunderbolt symbol is imposingly large, the shaft of which extends the length of Vajrapani’s figure. In addition to the massive device with its distinctive prongs, the bodhisattva holds a rosary (aksamala). His face is somewhat abraded but traces of a moustache remain, and he wears a distinctive headdress of an elaborate cockade with hanging strings of pearls disgorging from the center, in the Gupta-manner. Large annular earplugs, also of known Gupta type, are shown frontally. He wears a sacred cord (yanopavita) and short waist cloth with a sheathed dagger secured in the belt. In his raised proper left hand he holds the oversized vajra, and his head is framed by a large unadorned circular halo.

Section of a Diptych in Linga Form, Interior Depicting Shiva, Parvati, and the Calf Bull

Date: 7th century / Culture: India (Jammu and Kashmir, ancient kingdom of Kashmir) / Medium: Chlorite schist / Dimensions: H. 3 1/4 in. (8.3 cm) / Classification: Sculpture

Pedestal with Yaksha and Two Lions

Date: 9th century / Culture: India (Jammu & Kashmir, ancient kingdom of Kashmir) / Medium: Stone / Dimensions: H. 2 3/4 in. (7 cm); W. 6 1/4 in. (15.9 cm) / Classification:  Sculpture

Linga, Shiva’s Aniconic Symbol

Date: 8th century or earlier / Culture: India (Jammu and Kashmir, ancient kingdom of Kashmir) / Medium: Stone / Dimensions: H. 2 1/2 in. (6.4 cm); W. (incl. base) 3 7/8 in. (9.7 cm) / Classification: Sculpture

Surya (The God of the Sun) with Attendants

Date: 7th century(?) / Culture: India (Jammu & Kashmir, ancient kingdom of Kashmir) / Medium: Bronze / Dimensions: H. 5 in. (12.7 cm) / Classification: Sculpture

Crowned Buddha

Date: 9th century / Culture: India, Ancient kingdom of Kashmir / Medium: Brass / Dimensions: H. 20 3/8 in. x W. 9 in. (51.8cm x 22.9 cm); D. (from hands) 3 in. (7.6 cm) / Classification: Sculpture

The Buddha is usually depicted in a monk’s simple garments; however, when he wears rich jewelry and a crown, he evokes the special form of Buddha as a cakravartin, or universal monarch. In Kashmir this form also recalls the splendor of the Buddha in heaven, where he reveals himself to the bodhisattvas. Both the high tripartite diadem and tasseled cape reflect Central Asian influence on Kashmiri Buddhist art of this period.

Chakrapurusha (The Personification of Vishnu's War Discus)

Date: 8th century / Culture: India (Jammu & Kashmir, ancient kingdom of Kashmir) / Medium: Stone / Dimensions: H. 5 in. (12.7 cm); W. 2 3/16 in. (5.5 cm) / Classification: Sculpture

Vishnu Rescuing Gajendra, the Lord of the Elephants

Date: 8th–9th century / Culture: India (Jammu and Kashmir, ancient kingdom of Kashmir) / Medium: Stone / Dimensions: H. 3 1/4 in. (8.3 cm); W. 2 3/4 in. (7 cm); D. 1/2 in. (1.3 cm) / Classification: Sculpture

Mask of Bhairava

Date: Late 6th–7th century / Culture: India (Jammu and Kashmir, ancient kingdom of Kashmir) / Medium: Copper alloy, possibly brass / Dimensions: H. 7 5/8 in. (19.4 cm); W. 5 1/4 in. (13.3 cm); D. 2 3/8 in. (6 cm) / Classification: Sculpture

This object is from a rare group of early Brahmanical masks. The small fangs seen rising from the corners of the open mouth and the exposed upper teeth identify this deity as Bhairava, a wrathful form of Shiva. Such masks were employed as temporary fixtures during worship and used to enliven processional icons in the Brahmanical cultures of northwestern India and the territories of Gandhara in Pakistan.

Mirror Handle with a Woman Playing the Lute

Date: 6th–7th century / Culture: India (Jammu and Kashmir, ancient kingdom of Kashmir) / Medium: Chlorite schist / Dimensions: H. 3 3/4 in. (9.5 cm) / Classification: Sculpture

This figurine belongs to a group of objects depicting ladies at leisure; here, the woman plays a stringed instrument. They likely served as mirror handles: each has a hole drilled from the top to receive the mirror fixture. Similar objects have been recorded at Khotan, in Central Asia, and are presumably the legacy of a luxury trade in such
goods.

Standing Four-Armed Vishnu

Date: 8th century / Culture: India (Jammu & Kashmir, ancient kingdom of Kashmir) / Medium: Stone / Dimensions: H. 8 1/4 in. (21 cm) / Classification: Sculpture

Bodhisattva with Radiate Halo and Mandorla

Date: 6th century / Culture: Pakistan (ancient region of Gandhara) or India (Jammu & Kashmir) / Medium: Phyllitic grey schist / Dimensions: H. 5 1/4 in. (13.3 cm) / Classification: Sculpture

This bodhisattva, holding a lotus (padma), likely represents Avalokitesvara Padmapani. Portable images stylistically related to this one circulated in Gandhara, Kashmir, and as far north as the Central Asian Buddhist kingdom of Khotan, an important trading center on the Silk Road.

Section of a Diptych in Linga Form, Interior Depicting Parvati, the Consort of Shiva

Date: 6th–7th century / Culture: India (Jammu and Kashmir, ancient kingdom of Kashmir) / Medium: Chlorite schist / Dimensions: H. 3 in. (7.6 cm) / Classification: Sculpture

Note: All pics and texts from the Met Museum.