H x W x D: 26 x 8.6 x 7.4 cm (10 1/4 x 3 3/8 x 2 15/16 in)
Type:
Sculpture
Origin:
China
Date:
520
Period:
Period of Division, Northern Wei dynasty
Description:
Standing Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara (Guanyin) on a four-legged base.
Surface: gilded, black and reddish brown patina on worn areas.
Decoration: details in low relief and engraved. Inscription.
Inscriptions:
(H.C. Lovell, 1974) The inscription reads: "Shen-kuei san-nien san-yueh i-jih fo-ti-tzu Han Chi Pen-hsien wai mang fu chien hsiao nei ch'in tsao Kuan-shih-yin hsiang i-ch'u." [Chn]
It can be rendered: On the first day of the third month in the third year of Shen-kuei (April 6th, 520 A.D.), Buddhist Han Chi, Pen-hsien, had this image of Kuan-yin made for his deceased father out of filial piety for close relatives.
The inscription reads: [Chn]
The inscription reads: [Chn]
Provenance:
To 1909
Ta Ge Chung, Beijing, to 1909 [1]
From 1909 to 1919
Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from Ta Ge Chung in 1909 [2]
From 1920
Freer Gallery of Art, gift of Charles Lang Freer in 1920 [3]
Notes:
[1] See Original Bronze List, S.I. 96, Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives.
[2] See note 1.
[3] The original deed of Charles Lang Freer's gift was signed in 1906. The collection was received in 1920 upon the completion of the Freer Gallery.
Collection:
Freer Gallery of Art Collection
Exhibition History:
Promise of Paradise (October 14, 2017 - ongoing)
Promise of Paradise: Early Chinese Buddhist Sculpture (December 1, 2012 to January 3, 2016)
Buddhist Art (May 9, 1993 to August 9, 2011)
Chinese Art (January 1, 1963 to March 6, 1981)
Untitled Exhibition, Chinese Buddhist Art (July 19, 1958 to April 26, 1960)
Untitled Exhibition, Chinese Art, West Corridor, 1947 (January 8, 1947 to February 10, 1947)
Untitled Exhibition, Chinese Painting and Sculpture (November 15, 1944 to February 25, 1956)
Untitled Exhibition, Ancient Chinese Art, 1943 (March 22, 1943 to November 17, 1944)
Stone Sculpture, Buddhist Bronze, and Chinese Painting (May 2, 1923 to February 25, 1956)
