Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara (Guanyin) with vase and willow twig
date: label: Date
content: 1368-1644
label: Period
content: Ming dynasty
name: label: Artist
content: Formerly attributed to Yan Liben (ca. 600-674)
notes: label: Label
content: As an object of veneration, Guanyin, the Bodhisattva of Compassion, is shown with emblems of divine power: visible hands engaged in curative action and bare upturned feet folded in the lotus position.
label: Label
content: Although sometimes described as a woman, Guanyin originally had no gender, combining both male and female elements. The deity holds a purple water vase shaped like a lotus bud, and from its drops holy water from a willow branch. Wavelike patterns emanates from the center of the body and flow around its edges. Floriated emblems featuring lotuses decorate the robe, the colors of which are somber and deep. The lotus symbolizes Shakyamuni Buddha, who is also depicted in miniature in Guanyin's hood.
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. 1175, Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives. See also, Voucher No. 18, December 1916.
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: Enlightened Beings: Buddhism in Chinese Paintings (September 1, 2012 to February 24, 2013)
label: Exhibition History
content: In Human Form: Images of the Secular and Divine in Chinese Painting (January 31, 1996 to January 7, 1997)
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: Ming dynasty (1368 - 1644)
label: Topic
content: Guanyin
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: F1917.129
objectType: label: Type
content: Painting
objectRights: label: Restrictions & Rights
content: CC0
physicalDescription: label: Medium
content: Color on silk panel
label: Dimensions
content: H x W (image): 156.8 x 76.8 cm (61 3/4 x 30 1/4 in)