After many lifetimes of spiritual and intellectual preparation, the Buddha-to-be neared the achievement of enlightenment, and thus of buddhahood, as he sat meditating under a tree. The demon Mara, an embodiment of violence and uncontrolled passions, approached at the head of a monstrous army, intending to put a stop to the enlightenment. Mara and the Buddha-to-be repeatedly challenged each other’s power and past accomplishments. Finally, the Buddha-to-be said,

‘Mara, who is witness to your having given donations?’ Said Mara, ‘All these,’ and he stretched out his hand in the direction of his army. Then Mara said, ‘Who is witness to your having given donations?’ The Buddha-to-be replied, ‘I have no animate witnesses present. However, the great seven-hundred-fold donation I gave in my immediately previous existence will be testified to by the solid earth.’ And drawing forth his right hand from beneath his priestly robe, he stretched it out towards the mighty earth. And the mighty earth thundered, ‘I bear you witness’ with a hundred thousand roars. And the followers of Mara fled away in all directions.” (Adapted from Henry Clark Warren’s 1896 translation of an ancient Buddhist text.)

This sculpture was made in northeastern India, very near where these events are supposed to have occurred. Buddha images seated with the right hand reaching down at the knee to touch the earth memorialize the victory of the Buddha-to-be over the forces embodied in Mara and overcoming the last obstacles to attaining buddhahood. The inscription on the base says that the sculpture was donated by the senior monk Prajnaprabha. The inscription on the halo gives the “Buddhist creed.”

Simhavaktra means “lion headed,” and a dakini is a “sky-walker”—in Himalayan Buddhist thought, an inhabitant of the realm of the atmosphere. She is laden with symbolism: her third eye is open to suggest that she sees the true nature of reality, while she wears human skin that symbolizes the veil of illusion stripped away from perception. This image of Simhavaktra is a treasure guardian in two senses. First, she guards the secret Tibetan magical texts known as “treasure” (terma). Second, she guards a secret deposit of texts in her body—a set of consecration scrolls that x-rays have revealed as intact, despite the ravages of time.

Most vessels of this type were used for pouring wine during Shang rituals. This vessel, however, seems too tall and heavy and to have too high a center of gravity for this purpose. Perhaps it was made more for display than for actual use.

The decoration consists primarily of mythical animal masks (tao-tieh) and small one-legged dragons (kuilong) in relief against a spiral background of thunder patterns (leiwen). The handle features a horned beast holding a bird in its mouth. Although the meaning of this combination, as well as of many other designs on Shang bronzes, is unknown, it appears frequently on handles.

This vessel was reportedly found near the late Shang capital at Anyang in Henan province. It is similar in size and decoration to a group of objects excavated from the tomb of Fu Hao, a woman thought to be the consort of the early Anyang period ruler Wu Ding.

The inscription cast in the bottom of the vessel represents a man with a cross-shaped symbol on top of his head. Now read “Yayi,” this symbol appears in many late Shang bronzes and is probably a clan sign.

The Taima mandala is the most important ritual painting of the Pure Land Sect of Buddhism. The painting shows the Western Paradise, with the Buddha Amitabha (Japanese: Amida) at its center, sitting on a lotus throne, hands held before his chest in the gesture of preaching. Flanking him are two bodhisattvas and other attendants. Before them are musicians and dancers on a platform. Below this is the Holy Pond, where souls are being reborn among lotus flowers and leaves. The scenes in the right, left, and bottom borders narrate the ways to be reborn in this paradise.

This painting is modeled on an eighth-century mandala that was housed at Taima Temple in Nara. The silk hanging measured four meters square. It remained little noticed until 1217, when it was rediscovered and brought to popular attention. Thereafter, painted copies of it were made and distributed throughout Japan for more than 700 years. The painting displayed here is acknowledged as one of the best of the early devotional copies because it retains the grand scale, beautiful colors, and excellent artisanship of the earlier work.

Located in northeast China, the Hongshan culture, from which this jade came, produced jades in shapes and decor slightly different from those found in Liangzhu culture sites further south. Found in Hongshan burials and placed near the head or arm of the deceased, this type of object, shaped like a horse’s hoof, is thought to have been worn as a hair clasp.

The flattened vase, supported by a rock formation, is ornamented with two stylized dragon handles. A prunus, meihua or flowering plum, growing from the rocks below spreads its blossoming branches along the right side of the vase. Two paradise flycatchers, shoudai niao, with their characteristic long tails, rest on the rocky outcrop to the left of the vase. The prunus and birds are puns for meishou, or an advanced age. Behind the vase a small bamboo, a symbol for peace, grows next to a lingzhi, the fungus of immortality. These two form a rebus for pingan ruyi, or “may you have peace and may all your wishes come true.” The grayish-green vase bears white mottling, and the orange-brown areas have been artificially enhanced. The polish on the piece has a waxy sheen typical of jades of the 1700s.

A bold and elegant inscription forms the principal decoration of this tiny cup. Written in Arabic, the inscription around the body names its royal patron, Ala al-Daulah (1417-1460), grandson of the famous Central Asian ruler Timur (also known as Tamerlane). A highly accomplished second inscription, written in Persian and barely legible without magnification, appears on the rim. It names the Mughal Emperor Jahangir (ruled in India, 1605-1627), who owned this cup nearly 150 years after it was made.

This cup is a rare example of its type. It displays the superb skills of craftsmen working with a hard stone on a small object, uses a rare material (only one other white jade object is known from this period), and serves as a historical record of kings from two of the most prominent dynasties in Islamic history as well as a document of art collecting

Very thin walls and delicately carved foliage are typical features of Mughal Indian jades. The enameled handles and foot of this cup were fashioned in France, where the jade was likely brought by a traveler returning from India. Stamped impressions on the foot and on one of the handles indicate that these fittings were made by the Parisian jeweler Jules Wièse (1819-1890).

Jade objects were popular in the Mughal period (1526-1858), especially during the reign of Emperor Jahangir (1605-1627), who was a sophisticated patron of the arts. Jade was used in many ways: for vessels, as ornaments on weapons, and for personal adornment. Mughal jades are noted for fine workmanship, especially their extremely thin walls, their smoothly finished surfaces, and the precision and skill of their floral designs. The color of the jade also points to this period, for green was the preferred color during Jahangir’s reign.

Each panel of this screen consists of five rectangular slabs of jade set into a wooden frame decorated with stylized designs. The back of the screen is composed entirely of landscapes. In each front panel, two bird and flower compositions alternate vertically with three landscape compositions. The upper row of birds and flowers consists of (left to right) kingfisher, egrets, and lotus; miscellaneous birds and flowers; mandarin ducks and hibiscus; phoenix, peony, and Chinese parasol tree (wutong); miscellaneous birds, yellow hibiscus, and pinks; miscellaneous birds, osmanthus, and St. John’s Wort. The lower row has dragonfly, butterflies, and narcissus; quail and chrysanthemum, miscellaneous birds and plums; miscellaneous birds and hibiscus; miscellaneous birds and flowers; paradise flycatchers and (possibly) peony; paradise flycatchers and rose.

According to Gump’s, a San Francisco company with a long history of dealing in Chinese jades, a number of Siberian spinach (dark green) jade boulders were confiscated by the Bolshevik government and sold to the Chinese for much-needed cash. The boulders appeared in the Beijing market in 1921, and Gump’s buyers in China immediately purchased some of them and had them cut up into screens and incense burners for the Western market. This screen came not from Gump’s but most probably from a rival Beijing firm whose objects were crafted from spinach jades in that same cache.

The cover of this box is remarkable both for the range of lacquer colors employed and the fine detail of the carved decoration. The large character in the center of the top of this box means spring (chun) and is equated with youth and longevity. It sits between two dragons flying in clouds; below are rainbows radiating from a bowl overflowing with treasures. Incorporated into the character is a round panel in which the God of Longevity reads under a pine tree, with a servant and a deer in the background. Around the curved sides are four panels separated from one another by Buddhist treasures on a background of diamond patterns. The panels illustrate scenes of old scholars celebrating spring. With the assistance of young pupils, they set up parties by lotus lakes for the enjoyment of music, wine, reading, and flower arrangement. The treasures that separate these scenes include the wheel, flaming pearl, ingot, coral, horn, coin, wish-granting wand (ruyi), and more—they are an integral part of the celebration, giving the design a sumptuous effect.

Several similar boxes with the character chun are known; all bear at the bottom an inscription reading “precious box of longevity and spring; produced during the Qianlong reign of the great Qing dynasty.” This suggests such treasure boxes were one of the signature products of the Imperial Workshops of this period.