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https://piction.clevelandart.org/cma/ump.di?e=2E6A80E45F738C415B5AA010A536D915D36A60D0D7180973C1B0373D7693786E&s=24247294&se=307119930&v=1&f=%5C1950.581det01_o2.jpg

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May 23, 2012

Processional Mask of a Bodhisattva

行道面・菩薩

late 1100s

Japan, Heian period

(794–1185)

Wood, lacquered and painted

Overall: 22 x 16 cm (8 11/16 x 6 5/16 in.)

John L. Severance Fund 1950.581

Location

not on view

Did you know?

The most famous welcoming descent procession happens each year on April 14 at the temple Taimadera in Nara.

Description

This ceremonial mask was used in a dramatic enactment of the descent of the Buddha Amida and his entourage to welcome the dying to his Pure Land. The mask represents the face of an enlightened being called a bodhisattva. Performances of the welcoming descent had begun by the early 11th century and continue at some temples today.

Provenance

?-1950

(Hollis & Company, Cleveland, OH, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)

1950-

The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH

Citations

Milliken, William M. “Important Acquisitions of Japanese Art.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art, vol. 38, no. 9, 1951, pp. 211–217. Mentioned: pp. 212, 217; Reproduced: [no page number, after p. 212] www.jstor.org

The Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art Handbook. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1958. Mentioned and Reproduced: cat. no. 905 archive.org

The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1966. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1966. Reproduced: p. 274 archive.org

Rosenfield, John M. Japanese Arts of the Heian Period, 794-1185. [New York]: Asia Society, 1967. Reproduced: pp. 77 and 118, cat. no. 33

The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1969. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1969. Reproduced: p. 274 archive.org

The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978. Reproduced: p. 370 archive.org

Lee, Sherman E, Ursula Korneitchouk, Michael R Cunningham, Ursula Korneitchouk, Cleveland Museum of Art, Japan House Gallery, Japan Society (New York, N.Y.), and Japan House Gallery. One Thousand Years of Japanese Art (650-1650): From the Cleveland Museum of Art: Catalogue. New York: Japan Society, 1981. Mentioned and reproduced: P. 24-25, no. 8

Vilbar, Sinéad. "The Japanese Art Collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art, 1915-1951." In Great Waves & Mountains: Perspectives and Discoveries in Collecting the Arts of Japan. Natsu Oyobe, and Allysa B. Peyton, eds., 160–197. Gainesville: University of Florida Press, 2022. Mentioned and reproduced: P. 183, fig. 7.18

Exhibition history

Japanese Arts of the Heian Period: 794-1185. Asia House Gallery, New York City, NY (October 5-December 17, 1967) and Fogg Art Museum, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA (January 17-February 25, 1968).

One Thousand Years of Japanese Art (650-1650) from The Cleveland Museum of Art. Japan House Gallery, New York, NY (March 19-May 17, 1981).

Main Asian Rotation (Gallery 237). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (April 10, 2013-November 17, 2015).

35th Anniversary Exhibition. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 20-September 30, 1951).

Japanese Arts of the Heian Period. The Asia Society Museum, New York, NY (organizer) (October 5, 1967-February 19, 1968); Fogg Art Museum/Harvard University, Cambridge, MA (January 17-February 25, 1968).

Cite this page

{{cite web|title=Processional Mask of a Bodhisattva|url=https://clevelandart.org/art/1950.581|year=late 1100s|access-date=09 December 2023|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

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Processional Mask of a Bodhisattva

Processional Mask of a Bodhisattva

行道面・菩薩

Japan, Heian period

Location

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