Standing Bodhisattva
Artist/Culture
Chinese
Date1100s
Mediumcarved wood, polychromed
Dimensions135.9 cm (53 1/2 in.)
ClassificationsSculpture
Credit LineMuseum Purchase
Terms
Object number1954.165
DescriptionCarved wood with traces of red, blue, and green pigments. Curls frame forehead, hair in topknot, diadem atop head. Well-defined features, eyes open. Earlobes pendulous, neck fleshy with two creases. Hands form mudras and gesture upwards from elbows with flowing sleeves. Cloud collar and breastplate on upper torso. Ribbon at waist. Robes on lower body to knees and bare feet.Label TextStone ceased to be an important medium for sculpture in the Song period. A dominant interest in realism made wood which permits the creation of realistic detail, a popular material for religious sculpture. A considerable body of wood sculpture survives from temples in Shenxi and south Shanxi provinces. This bodhisattva and its counterpart (1954.165) have a life-like quality in features and dress that connect it with secular art. The spirituality and idealized abstraction of earlier Chinese Buddhist sculpture has been replaced by elegance and materiality.ProvenanceMuseum purchase from Edwing Hewitt Gallery, New York, NY
On View
On view
