Mogao Cave 328: Bodhisattvas Making Offerings

CHINA, Gansu, Dunhuang; Tang dynasty

There are four Bodhisattvas making offerings located on the left and right sides within and outside the niche on the back (west) wall of the main chamber. Except for the Bodhisattva on the left side inside the niche, which is now kept at Harvard Art Museums in Cambridge, USA, the rest of the figures are still intact within the cave.
All of these Bodhsiattvas are kneeling on one leg and the hands are raised in front of the chest. The hair is brought up into a high topknot and the figure is adorned with a stole, necklaces, and other ornaments. The Bodhisattva wears a long, diaphanous lower garment with delicate folds. The sculptures are from the flamboyant High Tang period (712–756); however, they retain the more subdued style from the Early Tang period (618–712), with a subtle elegance that emphasizes their graceful posture and smooth skin.