Standing figure (torso) of a bodhisattva (<em>pusa</em>)
date: label: Date
content: early 8th century
label: Period
content: Tang dynasty
notes: label: Label
content: This image of a bodhisattva (enlightened being) draws attention to the fragmentary condition of many Buddhist sculptures that entered Western collections in the early twentieth century. With the head, arms, and double-lotus pedestal missing, the sculpture lacks the balanced proportion expected of an eighth-century statue. However, comparison of this torso with complete sculptures in situ in China confirms its authenticity as a work probably made in Chang'an, the capital city of the Tang dynasty (618-907). It is not known when the figure was damaged, but many sculptures incurred such losses when they were removed from China.
label: Label
content: The style of this sculpture manifests an aesthetic sensibility prevalent in China during the eighth century. Indian imagery brought into China by traveling monks helped to stimulate new emphasis on a sensuous treatment of the human body, including a fleshy abdomen and thrusted hip. A clinging skirt, jeweled chains, and tendrils of hair cascading onto the shoulders (now somewhat difficult to interpret without the figure's head) are elements familiar in Indian statuary that the Chinese refashioned into their own idiom.
label: Provenance
content: To 1916
label: Provenance
content: Dikran G. Kelekian (1868-1951), Cairo, Egypt, Paris, France, and New York to 1916 [1]
label: Provenance
content: From 1916 to 1919
label: Provenance
content: Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from Dikran G. Kelekian, New York in 1916 [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 Miscellaneous List, S.I. 948, pg. 209, 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: Promise of Paradise: Early Chinese Buddhist Sculpture (December 1, 2012 to January 3, 2016)
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: Previous custodian or owner
content: Dikran Garabed Kelekian (1868-1951) (C.L. Freer source)
label: Previous custodian or owner
content: Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919)
place: label: Origin
content: probably Xi'an, Shaanxi province, 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: 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: F1916.365
objectType: label: Type
content: Sculpture
objectRights: label: Restrictions & Rights
content: CC0
physicalDescription: label: Medium
content: Limestone with traces of pigment and gesso
label: Dimensions
content: H x W x D: 101.7 x 40.9 x 26.7 cm (40 1/16 x 16 1/8 x 10 1/2 in)