H x W x D (figure on base): 59.8 x 35.4 x 32.3 cm (23 9/16 x 13 15/16 x 12 11/16 in)
Type:
Sculpture
Origin:
Japan
Date:
9th or 10th century
Period:
Heian period
Description:
The Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara (Kannon).
Pedestal. Box. Wood; lacquered and gilded. Surface worn and incrusted, only vestiges of gilding remaining. Agate urna inset. Ornaments of bronze filigree (blackened), with insets and attachments of glass and pottery. Sanskrit character under glass inset in the headdress.
Provenance:
To 1909
Count Tanaka, to 1909 [1]
From 1909 to 1919
Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from Count Tanaka through Samurai Shokai, Yokohama, in 1909 [2]
From 1920
Freer Gallery of Art, gift of Charles Lang Freer in 1920 [3]
Notes:
[1] See Original Miscellaneous List, S.I. 172, 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:
Moonlight and Clouds: Silver and Gold in the Arts of Japan (November 11, 2008 to November 11, 2009)
Freer: A Taste for Japanese Art (July 1, 2006 to January 1, 2007)
Japanese Art (May 9, 1993 to November 21, 1995)
Centennial Exhibition, Galleries 1 and 2 (February 25, 1956 to January 1, 1963)
Japanese Paintings and Sculpture (May 2, 1923 to January 5, 1928)
