The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of June 4, 2023

Head of a Bodhisattva

1100s

China, reportedly from Henan province, Northern Song (960-1127) to Jin dynasty

(1115-1234)

Wood

Overall: 86.4 x 40.6 x 38.1 cm (34 x 16 x 15 in.)

Dudley P. Allen Fund 1923.54

Location

not on view

Fun Fact

The eyes and the hole in the forehead were originally set with semiprecious stones.

Description

This large head of a Bodhisattva figure, an enlightened being that vowed to help humans on earth, was once part of a monumental sculpture in a public Buddhist setting.

Provenance
?–1923
(C. T. Loo 盧芹齋 [1880–1957] sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)
1923–
The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
Citations
The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1925. Reproduced: p. 51 archive.org
Sirén, Osvald. "Studien zur chinesischen Plastik der Post-T'angzeit." Ostasiatische Zeitschrift Vol. 14, 1927. Reproduced: pp. 7, Taf. 14, abb. 11
The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1928. Reproduced: p. 64 archive.org
Hollis, Howard C. “A Chinese Wooden Head.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 23, no. 6 (1936): 97–99. Mentioned: pp. 97–99; Reproduced: p. 94 www.jstor.org
Rexroth, Kenneth. "Sung." Portfolio and Art News Annual, no. 6, 1960. Reproduced:
Munro, Thomas. Oriental Aesthetics. Cleveland: Press of Western Reserve University, 1965. Reproduced: Pl. VII, facing p. 87
Exhibition history

The Arts of China from The Cleveland Museum of Art. Mansfield Art Center, Mansfield, OH (February 27-April 10, 1983).

The Silver Jubilee Exhibition. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 23-September 28, 1941).

China through the Magnifying Glass: Masterpieces in Miniature and Detail. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (December 11, 2022-February 26, 2023).

Source URL: https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1923.54