Four-sided miniature stele
date: label: Date
content: ca. 550
label: Period
content: Possibly Western Wei dynasty
notes: label: Description
content: Four-sided miniature stele.
label: Description
content: Color of the stone: originally white (?), darkened and discolored. Traces of applied red and black pigment. Marble with traces of red and black pigments.
label: Label
content: This small shrine was probably made for private use. Although its authenticity has never been questioned, it is being exhibited here for the first time, partly because its modest scale and lack of inscribed date have led scholars to overlook it. Its darkened condition is also a factor, for to fully appreciate the carving, a viewer must look closely. If the work were to be cleaned, pigment might be lost. The front and rear niches contain a seated Buddha in monastic robes on one side and a crowned bodhisattva (enlightened being) on the other.
label: Label
content: These images suggest the popular pairing of Shakyamuni (566-486 B.C.E.), the historical Buddha, and Maitreya, the Buddha of the Future, who waits as a bodhisattva in a heavenly realm until he descends to earth as the next Buddha. It is unusual, however, to find Maitreya as a bodhisattva seated with pendant legs, a posture common for depictions of Maitreya as a Buddha. The side niches feature a Buddha and a bodhisattva. Stylistically the work seems Western Wei, circa 550, although the gently domed roof is unusual in a miniature shrine of this date.
label: Provenance
content: To 1914
label: Provenance
content: Yamanaka & Company, New York to 1914 [1]
label: Provenance
content: From 1914 to 1919
label: Provenance
content: Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from Yamanaka & Company, New York in 1914 [2]
label: Provenance
content: From 1920
label: Provenance
content: The Freer Gallery of Art, gift of Charles Lang Freer in 1920 [3]
label: Provenance
content: Notes:
label: Provenance
content: [1] Undated folder sheet note. See S.I.
label: Provenance
content: 494, Original Miscellaneous List, p. 140, Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives.
label: Provenance
content: [2] See note 1.
label: Provenance
content: [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.
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: Previous custodian or owner
content: Yamanaka and Co. 山中商会 (1917-1965) (C.L. Freer source)
label: Previous custodian or owner
content: Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919)
place: label: Origin
content: China
topic: label: Topic
content: stone
label: Topic
content: Buddhism
label: Topic
content: Western Wei dynasty (535 - 556)
label: Topic
content: Maitreya Buddha
label: Topic
content: shrine
label: Topic
content: China
label: Topic
content: Shakyamuni Buddha
label: Topic
content: abhaya mudra
label: Topic
content: Chinese Art
label: Topic
content: Charles Lang Freer collection
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 Charles Lang Freer
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery
identifier: label: Accession Number
content: F1914.4
objectType: label: Type
content: Sculpture
objectRights: label: Restrictions & Rights
content: CC0
physicalDescription: label: Medium
content: Marble with traces of red and black pigments
label: Dimensions
content: H x W x D: 14 x 12 x 5.9 cm (5 1/2 x 4 3/4 x 2 5/16 in)