Each deity figure in this gallery has a written inscription on the front or back of the base.

Inscription Subjects:
- Name of the Figure
- Four Line Praise
- Mantra
- Dedication (Mother, Father, Teacher, etc.)
- Name of the Donor
- Name of the Artist
- Other....

(The images in the gallery are only a small selection of sculpture with inscriptions).

Each of the sculpture pieces in this gallery has a written inscription on the front or back of the base. Sometimes the inscriptions are lengthy and can circle the entire base even creating several lines of text.

Inscription Subjects:
- Name of the Figure
- Four Line Praise
- Mantra
- Dedication (Mother, Father, Teacher, etc.)
- Name of the Donor
- Name of the Artist
- Other....

(The images in the gallery are only a small selection of sculpture with inscriptions).

The Mountain Sanctuary Collection is new to the HAR Website. It is a private collection that contains over 700 sculpture and approximately 700 paintings. Additional sculptural images will be added as they become available. The collection has both early and late pieces and is particularly fine in its quality and breadth.

Maitreya is depicted in a number of standard postures and iconographic forms. On occasion Maitreya is shown in a seated posture with the right leg pendant similar to forms of Avalokiteshvara.

In these representations Maitreya is identified by either the stupa on the crown of the head or on a flower blossom, the water flask, a wheel, or krishnasara deerskin over the left shoulder. He can also be tentatively identified through a process of elimination by noting a lack of attributes associated with Manjushri or Avalokiteshvara. The example above is identified by the stupa on the crown of the head which is unique to Maitreya.

A Bodhisattva in a 'relaxed posture' is a way of describing the sitting manner of the figures of Manjushri, Avalokiteshvara, Maitreya and the God Indra. These four in particular, and with examples, portray a specific look and attitude of a seated bodhisattva (plus one god). It is possible that other bodhisattvas in the same posture will be identified.

 Avalokiteshvara, as a sculptural representation, in a 'Thinking' posture is commonly found in North Western India, Kashmir and Western Tibet. The form is characterized by the figure seated in a relaxed posture typically with the left leg pendant and the right drawn up. The most significant characteristics are the right arm with the elbow resting on the knee and hand raised with the index finger placed against the side of the face - head slightly tilted to the right. There are a number of different variations shown with the examples on the gallery page.

Manjushri 'holding a book' is an iconographic characteristic of several different forms of Manjushri - all of which are meditational deities (yidam, ishtadevata). These forms according to Tantric classification belong to the Kriya, Charya and Yoga Tantras. Early textual descriptions, prior to the 13th century, often place the text of the Prajnaparamita in the left hand and next to the heart of Manjushri.

Over the centuries the depicted iconography of these Manjushri forms changes. The Prajnaparamita book gets moved, relocated, to the top of a blue utpala flower blossoming next to the left ear, with the stem held between the ring finger and thumb, in the right hand of Manjushri. The most popular forms of Manjushri undergo the relocation of the text. Some less popular and much less commonly depicted forms of Manjushri are still described and depicted holding the text but the majority of depictions have adopted the new utpala and Prajnaparamita iconography.

Lachog Sengge, 1468-1535, was a religious teacher, scholar and a patron of the arts. There are numerous examples of paintings in museum and private collections around the world that were commissioned by Lhachog Sengge. The objects are all identified by inscription along the bottom front or on the reverse. Many of the paintings are dedicated to his personal teachers while others are dedicated to lineage teachers of the more distant past.

Manjushri in a relaxed sitting posture is a popular sculptural form in India, Nepal and Tibet. In this iconographic style Manjushri is typically depicted in a seated posture with the right knee raised and the wrist or elbow of the right arm resting atop the knee. The left hand is pressed downward onto the seat slightly behind the horizontal left leg. The upper torso of the body and head generally display a pronounced curve imitating the 'tribanga' form of standing figures.

Both hands can each hold the stem of a flower blossom. Usually the right hand holds a lotus blossom and the left an utpala (lily, iris). In a number of examples the left flower blossom supports a book or text representing the Prajnaparmita Sutras. The sculptural form representing the text on the left flower is sometimes in the shape of a cylinder. This is actually depicting a metal tube which is the outer box or container for the sutra text.

Again, with some examples of Manjushri in this form he is wearing a type of meditation belt extending around the waist on the proper left side and circling the right leg just below the knee.

There are iconographic examples of Avalokiteshvara which an appear very similar to Manjushri as depicted in these examples.

The Arts of Tibetan Painting: Recent Research on Manuscripts, Murals and Thangkas of Tibet, the Himalayas and Mongolia (11th-19th century). Edited by Amy Heller.

This collection of articles is a hallmark in publication as Asianart.com's first venture in online publication of a complete volume, comprising 13 articles which stem from the 12th Seminar of the International Association for Tibetan Studies (Vancouver 2010). This volume of recent major discoveries and analyses by distinguished scholars of Tibetan and Mongolian art, history, and language is presented in a format accessible to non-specialist readers as well as specialists, copiously illustrated with detail enlargements. [The introduction above is taken from the Asianart website]. (See Table of Contents).