Thousand-armed Thousand-eyed Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara (Guanyin) 明 佚名 《千手千眼觀世音菩薩像》 軸
date: label: Date
content: 16th-17th century?
label: Period
content: Ming dynasty
name: label: Artist
content: Formerly attributed to Fanlong 梵隆 (active mid-12th century)
notes: label: Marks
content: Label on back.
label: Label
content: Multi-armed images of Guanyin, the bodhisattva (enlightened being) of compassion, are popular in several schools of Chinese Buddhism. In its fullest form, the bodhisattva has one thousand arms and hands. Each hand has an eye in its palm that perceives the suffering of the world, and each bears a token that offers a means of salvation.This version has twenty two pairs of arms.
label: Label
content: Wearing a crown decorated with figures of the Five Dhyani (Wisdom) Buddhas, Guanyin sits on a lotus throne before a lunar halo. Above its head, two hands hold aloft an image of the bodhisattva’s patron, Amitabha, the Buddha of Infinite Light. Two other hands, palms together, form a mudra (gesture) of reverence, while a third pair rests in a sign of meditation. The other thirty-eight hands hold symbolic objects, such as a vajra (thunderbolt) to represent enlightenment; willow branches to sprinkle compassion upon believers; a sword to sever the bonds of ignorance; and a lotus to indicate the flowering of the mind. At the foot of the lotus throne stands a Buddhist monk, who offers smoke from an incense burner as an act of devotion.
label: Provenance
content: To 1917
label: Provenance
content: Li Wenqing (late 19th-early 20th century), Shanghai, to 1917 [1]
label: Provenance
content: From 1917 to 1919
label: Provenance
content: Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from Li Wenqing, in New York, in 1917 [2]
label: Provenance
content: From 1920
label: Provenance
content: Freer Gallery of Art, gift of Charles Lang Freer in 1920 [3]
label: Provenance
content: Notes:
label: Provenance
content: [1] See Original Kakemono and Makimono List, L. 1156, Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives. See also, Voucher No. 18, December 1916. This object exhibits seals, colophons, or inscriptions that could provide additional information regarding the object’s history; see Curatorial Remarks in the object record for further details.
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: Buddhist Art (May 9, 1993 to August 9, 2011)
label: Previous custodian or owner
content: Li Wenqing 李文卿 (ca. 1869-1931) (C.L. Freer source)
label: Previous custodian or owner
content: Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919)
place: label: Origin
content: China
topic: label: Topic
content: Buddhism
label: Topic
content: bodhisattva
label: Topic
content: Ming dynasty (1368 - 1644)
label: Topic
content: lotus
label: Topic
content: incense
label: Topic
content: Guanyin
label: Topic
content: vajra
label: Topic
content: China
label: Topic
content: monk
label: Topic
content: Chinese Art
label: Topic
content: baimiao style
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: F1917.110
objectType: label: Type
content: Painting
objectRights: label: Restrictions & Rights
content: CC0
physicalDescription: label: Medium
content: Ink on paper
label: Dimensions
content: H x W (image): 75.8 x 58.7 cm (29 13/16 x 23 1/8 in)