Buddhist stele
date: label: Date
content: Dated 564 C. E.
label: Period
content: Period of Division
notes: label: Label
content: When the Freer Gallery of Art acquired this stela, or tablet-shaped sculpture, in 1923, it was broken into five pieces. After conservators repaired it in 1933, it was long exhibited as a masterpiece. Recently, some doubts have arisen about the stela's authenticity based on the lack of similar works in China. In addition, little natural wear appears on the stone, which is suspect. Damage is limited to the heads of some figures and might have been intentionally inflicted by modern creators to "antique" the stela. This sculpture is an example of a previously unassailable work now undergoing more study in order to assess its genuineness.
label: Label
content: The central image is a seated Buddha with raised right hand in the gesture of reassurance and lowered left hand in the gesture of granting favor. It is peculiar that he is seated on a dais with an hourglass-shaped throne beneath the platform. Usually only one type of seat is depicted. Is this a copyist's mistake? In the upper register, another Buddha appears between matching canopied niches. On the right is the supremely wise Buddhist layman Weimo (Sanskrit, Vimalakirti), who holds a whisklike object. On the left is the Bodhisattva of Wisdom, Wenshu (Sanskrit, Manjusri), holding a scepter. The arrangement of these two figures separated by a Buddha group was common during the sixth century.
label: Label
content: The lowest register features a vase with an elaborate floral arrangement and two kneeling worshipers holding censers. To each side, guardian figures hold trident-like poles. On the rear of the stela is an inscription with more than 550 characters that indicates the stela was donated to a temple by a group that included monks and nuns.
label: Provenance
content: To 1923
label: Provenance
content: Hsu-Sen-yu, Bejing [1]
label: Provenance
content: From 1923
label: Provenance
content: Freer Gallery of Art, purchased by Carl Whiting Bishop from Hsu-Sen-yu, Peking on Sept. 11, 1923 [2]
label: Provenance
content: Notes:
label: Provenance
content: [1] Curatorial Remark 1 in the object record. This stele along with five other pieces were purchased by Carl Whiting Bishop from Mr. Hsu Sen-yu, who was a staff of the Chinese Educational Department in Bejing, China in 1923.
label: Provenance
content: [2] See note 1. Also see the Bishop Collection file, Collections Management Office.
label: Provenance
content: Updated on June 6, 2021
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: Chinese Art—Stone Sculpture (September 1, 1979 to March 14, 1982)
label: Exhibition History
content: Chinese Art (January 1, 1963 to March 6, 1981)
label: Exhibition History
content: Centennial Exhibition, Gallery 17 (November 17, 1955 to January 1, 1963)
label: Exhibition History
content: Untitled Exhibition, Chinese Buddhist Sculpture (June 2, 1944 to March 13, 1944)
label: Exhibition History
content: Untitled Exhibition, Chinese Buddhist Sculpture, 1944 (March 13, 1944 to November 14, 1944)
label: Exhibition History
content: Stone Sculpture, Gallery 17, 1923 (May 2, 1923 to November 17, 1955)
label: Previous custodian or owner
content: Hsu-Sen-yu
place: label: Origin
content: China
topic: label: Topic
content: stone
label: Topic
content: Buddhism
label: Topic
content: Period of Division (220 - 589)
label: Topic
content: China
label: Topic
content: halo
label: Topic
content: throne
label: Topic
content: Wenshu
label: Topic
content: Weimo
label: Topic
content: trident
label: Topic
content: scepter
label: Topic
content: abhaya mudra
label: Topic
content: varada mudra
label: Topic
content: cintamani
label: Topic
content: Chinese Art
label: Topic
content: Carl Whiting Bishop 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: Purchase — Charles Lang Freer Endowment
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery
identifier: label: Accession Number
content: F1923.14
objectType: label: Type
content: Sculpture
objectRights: label: Restrictions & Rights
content: CC0
physicalDescription: label: Medium
content: Limestone
label: Dimensions
content: H x W x D (overall): 125.8 x 64.1 x 11.9 cm (49 1/2 x 25 1/4 x 4 11/16 in)