Standing figure of Bodhisattva
date: label: Date
content: 8th-9th century
label: Period
content: Tang dynasty
notes: label: Label
content: Charles Lang Freer purchased this figure of a bodhisattva, or enlightened being, in 1917. It exemplifies some of the mistakes collectors made trying to date Buddhist sculpture in an era of little comparative material outside of China.
label: Label
content: In 1917 dealers dated the sculpture to the sixth century and claimed they knew from which temple it had been taken in the northern province of Shanxi. There has been no way to document this provenance. However, today the bodhisattva's pose with thrust hip is recognized as typical of the Tang dynasty (618-907).
label: Label
content: As recently as 1959, the eminent sculpture authority Osvald Siren still accepted a sixth-century date for the work, but in 1962 he proposed an early-tenth-century date. The heavy gold pigment may have misled him, since most Tang dynasty sculptures he studied in Western collections are devoid of pigment. Although it is unclear precisely when the gold was applied, almost all Tang sculptures were originally brightly colored.
label: Label
content: Another early-twentieth-century misconception about this sculpture was that it represents a female. In fact, the long-haired, bare-chested figure wearing an Indian-style skirt is decidedly male.
label: Provenance
content: To 1917
label: Provenance
content: Yamanaka & Company, New York to 1917 [1]
label: Provenance
content: From 1917 to 1919
label: Provenance
content: Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from Yamanaka & Company, New York in 1917 [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. 1188, pg. 276, 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: 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: Exhibition History
content: Ancient Chinese Paintings, Sculptures, and Jade Objects from the Collection formed by Charles Lang Freer (November 15 to December 08, 1917)
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: bodhisattva
label: Topic
content: Tang dynasty (618 - 907)
label: Topic
content: China
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: F1917.240
objectType: label: Type
content: Sculpture
objectRights: label: Restrictions & Rights
content: CC0
physicalDescription: label: Medium
content: Limestone, gilding, polychrome
label: Dimensions
content: H x W x D: 136.2 x 39 x 36.5 cm (53 5/8 x 15 3/8 x 14 3/8 in)