Buddhist stele
date: label: Date
content: dated 511
label: Period
content: Northern Wei dynasty
notes: label: Label
content: The small votive stela has lost its upper section, which probably came to a flame-shaped point. The main figure on the front is a Buddha, and on the rear appears a seated bodhisattva (enlightened being) with crossed ankles. The style of the sculpture resembles early-sixth-century stelae from northern Henan Province.
label: Label
content: The work was in the United States before 1916, and doubts have arisen about its authenticity. On the front of the stela, the fussy drapery that cascades over the base is unusual. On the back, the Buddha niches cut off at the stone's edge are inexplicable-there is no reason for carving incomplete arches and figures.
label: Label
content: The inscription dated 511 on the stela's front is also atypical. The two characters in the second line from the right appear to have been squeezed in as an afterthought. Anomalies such as these are serious but cannot prove the sculpture to be fake. Some unusual sculptures have been discovered in China, suggesting that despite its peculiarities, this stela could be genuine.
label: Provenance
content: From at least 1916 to 1968
label: Provenance
content: Eugene Meyer (1875-1959) and Agnes E. Meyer (1887-1970), New York, NY, Washington, DC and Mt. Kisco, NY, from at least 1916 [1]
label: Provenance
content: From 1968
label: Provenance
content: Freer Gallery of Art, given by Agnes E. Meyer, 1968 [2]
label: Provenance
content: Notes:
label: Provenance
content: [1] Eugene and Agnes E. Meyer lent the stele to the Metropolitan Museum of Art exhibition in 1916, see S. C Bosch Reitz, Catalogue of An Exhibition of Early Chinese Pottery and Sculpture, exh. cat. (New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1916), cat. 323 (ill.).
label: Provenance
content: [2] The object is included in Agnes E. Meyer’s Deed of Gift, listed as no. 37 in the document’s Annex, dated July 24, 1967, copy in object file.
label: Collection
content: Freer Gallery of Art Collection
label: Exhibition History
content: Chinese Buddhist Sculpture in New Light (April 14, 2002 to September 8, 2003)
label: Exhibition History
content: A Brief History of Chinese Writing (April 26, 2000 to February 9, 2002)
label: Exhibition History
content: Eugene and Agnes E. Meyer Memorial Exhibition (September 25, 1971 to October 2, 1972)
label: Previous custodian or owner
content: Eugene and Agnes E. Meyer
place: label: Origin
content: Probably Henan province, China
topic: label: Topic
content: stone
label: Topic
content: Buddhism
label: Topic
content: dragon
label: Topic
content: Buddha
label: Topic
content: bodhisattva
label: Topic
content: lion
label: Topic
content: Northern Wei dynasty (386 - 534)
label: Topic
content: China
label: Topic
content: lettering
label: Topic
content: abhaya mudra
label: Topic
content: varada mudra
label: Topic
content: Chinese Art
setName: label: Related Online Resources
content: Google Arts & Culture
label: See more items in
content: Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Collection
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Gift of Eugene and Agnes E. Meyer
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery
identifier: label: Accession Number
content: F1968.53
objectType: label: Type
content: Sculpture
objectRights: label: Restrictions & Rights
content: CC0
physicalDescription: label: Medium
content: Limestone
label: Dimensions
content: H x W x D: 30.4 x 18.6 x 10.6 cm (11 15/16 x 7 5/16 x 4 3/16 in)