Square fragment: showing Buddhist procession
date: label: Date
content: early 6th century
label: Period
content: Northern Wei dynasty
notes: label: Label
content: Four male figures are depicted in this sculptural fragment, which agrees in style and scale with a missing section from the front, or south, wall of Cave 1 at Gongxian, Henan Province. If it is the lost fragment, these figures belonged to a larger group of fifteen or more men in a procession led by a Buddhist monk. The distinctive headgear and robes of the main figure (second from right) indicate that the scene depicts a wealthy patron, who is surrounded by attendants, one holding a fan and one raising a canopy.
label: Label
content: Recent cleaning of this fragment has revealed that the surface has many layers of paint, including greens and reds-an appearance consistent with the presumed age of the object. But small details-hands clutching the handles of the poles, for example-are not found in the relief sculptures still in place in the Gongxian cave-temple. While it is likely that this fragment in the Freer Gallery is genuine, it is also possible that it is a copy of the original. If so, it was created in the early twentieth century for sale as a genuine antiquity, and the location of the original image is unknown.
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. 432, 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: Exhibition History
content: Chinese Buddhist Sculpture in New Light (April 14, 2002 to September 8, 2003)
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: Northern Wei dynasty (386 - 534)
label: Topic
content: China
label: Topic
content: Chinese Art
label: Topic
content: Charles Lang Freer collection
label: Topic
content: parasol
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: F1913.72
objectType: label: Type
content: Sculpture
objectRights: label: Restrictions & Rights
content: CC0
physicalDescription: label: Medium
content: Sandstone
label: Dimensions
content: H x W x D: 41.2 x 45.1 x 14.3 cm (16 1/4 x 17 3/4 x 5 5/8 in)