Lamp Bearer, Presumed Portrait of a Nobleman

Dated by inscription 1698

On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 252

This figure’s Rajput-style dress was popular in court circles in seventeenth- and eighteenth-century Nepal. The sculpture carries a donor inscription that identifies him as Sri Muni Vajracharya, a member of the Varyacharya caste. He holds an oil lamp with a dragon handle and an elegant ewer in his extended hands as offerings to the presiding deity, here named as Padmapani Lokesvara, the lotus-bearing bodhisattva of compassion.

Artwork Details

Title: Lamp Bearer, Presumed Portrait of a Nobleman
Date: Dated by inscription 1698
Culture: Nepal
Medium: Gilt-copper alloy
Dimensions: H. 10 in. (25.4 cm); W. 5 3/4 in. (14.6 cm); D. 6 5/8 in. (16.8 cm)
Classification: Sculpture
Credit Line: Zimmerman Family Collection, Gift of the Zimmerman Family, 2020
Object Number: 2020.288.1
Curatorial Department: Asian Art

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