The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of March 27, 2023

Bodhisattva

菩薩

700s

China, Hebei province, Tang dynasty

(618-907)

White marble

Overall: 177.8 x 64 x 58.5 cm (70 x 25 3/16 x 23 1/16 in.); without base: 157.4 cm (61 15/16 in.)

Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund 1929.981

Location

238 Chinese Ceramics

Description

The bodhisattva is an enlightened being dedicated to the spiritual awakening of all beings. This white marble torso exemplifies the quest for refinement and plasticity of form that mark the golden era of Tang Chinese Buddhist sculpture. The statue was conceived with great power and grandeur. The slight sway of the hip on one side and upraised shoulder on the other result in an elegant S-curve. Emphatic lines cut into the stone create a sense of rhythm and reveal the sculptor’s skill and sureness of execution.

Provenance
?–1929
(Yamanaka and Company, New York, NY, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)
1929–
The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
Citations
The Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art Handbook. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1958. Mentioned and Reproduced: cat. no. 823 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. 253 archive.org
The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1969. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1969. Reproduced: p. 253 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. 333 archive.org
Sun, Di, editor. Zhongguo liu shi hai wai Fo jiao zao xiang zong he tu mu [中国流失海外佛教造像总合图目 = Comprehensive Illustrated Catalogue of Chinese Buddhist Statues in Overseas Collections]. Beijing: Wai wen chu ban she, 2005. Mentioned: vol. 6, p. 1119
Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland Art: The Cleveland Museum of Art Members Magazine. Vol. 53 no. 05, September/October 2013 Mentioned & reproduced: p. 15 archive.org
Cleveland Museum of Art. The CMA Companion: A Guide to the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2014. Mentioned and reproduced: pp. 96–97
Exhibition history

EXPO '70, World Exhibition of Masterpieces of World Art. Osaka, Japan (1970).

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

Source URL: https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1929.981