Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara (Guanyin), Head
date: label: Date
content: 493-534
label: Period
content: Period of Division, Northern Wei dynasty
notes: label: Description
content: Large head of Guanyin with high headdress; lower extremities of ear lobes broken, and nose and lips repaired; fragment of statue, probably in high relief. Stand.
label: Label
content: This head of a bodhisattva (enlightened being) wears a crown decorated with an image of a seated Amitabha Buddha surrounded by plant leaves; jewels and a flower are at the base of the crown and a flower appears at the apex. The iconography of the crown strongly suggests this image is Guanyin, the Bodhisattva of Compassion. The style of the image is consistent with Northern Wei sculptures at the Longmen Buddhist cave-temple complex, near Luoyang, Henan Province. Beginning in 493 C.E. and lasting almost four hundred years, Chinese imperial patronage at Longmen transformed the site into a richly endowed complex with over 2,300 caves and niches in cliff walls adorned with sculptures. In the early twentieth century some sculptures and fragments were removed from Longmen and entered the international antiquities market without identification. Scholars today are conducting research to see if the original location of these sculptures at Longmen can be determined.
label: Label
content: This sculpture has some repair to the nose and upper lip.
label: Provenance
content: To 1913
label: Provenance
content: Yamanaka & Company, New York to 1913 [1]
label: Provenance
content: From 1913 to 1919
label: Provenance
content: Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from Yamanaka & Company, New York in 1913 [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 Original Miscellaneous List, S.I. 423, pg. 131, 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: Promise of Paradise (October 14, 2017 - ongoing)
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: Longmen Grottoes, Luoyang, Henan province, China
topic: label: Topic
content: stone
label: Topic
content: Buddhism
label: Topic
content: bodhisattva
label: Topic
content: Period of Division (220 - 589)
label: Topic
content: Northern Wei dynasty (386 - 534)
label: Topic
content: Guanyin
label: Topic
content: China
label: Topic
content: mandorla
label: Topic
content: Chinese Art
label: Topic
content: Charles Lang Freer collection
setName: label: On View
content: West Building (Freer Gallery of Art), Gallery 17: Promise of Paradise
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: F1913.71
objectType: label: Type
content: Sculpture
objectRights: label: Restrictions & Rights
content: CC0
physicalDescription: label: Medium
content: Limestone with traces of pigment
label: Dimensions
content: H x W x D (overall): 47.6 x 19.3 x 23.3 cm (18 3/4 x 7 5/8 x 9 3/16 in)