The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of November 28, 2023

Standing Disciple Mahakasyapa Holding a Cylindrical Reliquary

c. 550

China, Hebei province, Southern Xiangtangshan caves, Northern Qi dynasty

(550-577)

Limestone with traces of pigment

Overall: 116 x 33 x 25 cm (45 11/16 x 13 x 9 13/16 in.)

Leonard C. Hanna, Jr. Fund 1972.166

Location

241C Chinese Buddhist Sculptures

Fun Fact

The complex of Buddhist cave temples at Xiangtangshan, “Mountain of Echoing Halls,” is a central achievement of the Northern Qi period.

Description

Mahakasyapa, the disciple of Shakyamuni, is presented with closed eyes in an expression of meditative concentration. He is holding a reliquary for the Buddha’s ashes, which symbolize the Buddha entering final spiritual attainment (nirvana) at death. The artistic simplicity exemplifies the spiritual content of this figure.

Provenance
Edgar Worch [1880–1972], Paris, France
by 1913–?
Victor Goloubew [1878–1945], Paris, France
November 10, 1972
(Étude Couturier et Nicolay, Hôtel Drouot sale, November 10, 1972, Paris, France)
1972
(Heim Gallery, Paris, France, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)
1972–
The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
Citations
Musée Cernuschi. Collection Victor Goloubew. [Paris]: [Victor Jacquemin], 1913. Mentioned: no. 53, p. 18; Reproduced: pl. III
Mizuno, Seiichi 水野清一 and Toshio Nagahiro 長廣敏雄. Kyōdōzan sekkutsu: Kahoku Kanan shōkyō ni okeru Hokusei jidai no sekkutsu jiin. [響堂山石窟 : 河北河南省境における北齊時代の石窟寺院 = The Buddhist Cave-Temples of Hsiang-t'ang-ssu] Kyōto: Tōhō Bunka Gakuin Kyōto Kenkyūjo, 1937. Mentioned and Reproduced: p. 73
Lee, Sherman E. "The Year in Review for 1972." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 60, no. 3 (1973): 63–115. Mentioned: no. 277, p. 114; Reproduced: no. 277, p. 94 www.jstor.org
Guo li gu gong bo wu yuan 國立故宮博物院. Hai wai yi zhen. fo xiang [海外遺珎. 佛像 = Chinese art in overseas collections. Buddhist sculpture]. Taibei Shi: Guo li gu gong bo wu yuan, 1986. Mentioned and Reproduced: pl. 52
Matsubara, Saburō 松原三郎. Chūgoku Bukkyō chōkoku shiron [中国仏教彫刻史論 = Research in the History of Chinese Buddhist Sculpture]. Tōkyō: Yoshikawa Kōbunkan, 1995. Reproduced: vol. 2, pl. 450
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. vol. 3, p. 624
Tsiang, Katherine R., and Richard A. Born. Echoes of the Past: The Buddhist Cave Temples of Xiangtangshan. Chicago: Smart Museum of Art, University of Chicago, 2010. Mentioned and Reproduced: cat. no. 26, pp. 216–217
Cleveland Museum of Art. The CMA Companion: A Guide to the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2014. Mentioned and reproduced: P. 94
Exhibition history

5è Exposition des Arts de l'Asie: Collection Victor Goloubew. Musée Cernuschi, Paris, France (1913–1914).

Year in Review: 1972. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 27-March 18, 1973).

Echoes of the Past: The Buddhist Cave Temples at Xiangtangshan. The David and Alfred Smart Museum of Art, Chicago, IL (September 30, 2010-January 16, 2011); National Museum of Asian Art, Washington, DC (organizer) (February 26-July 31, 2011); Meadows Museum, Southern Methodist University, Dallas, TX (September 10, 2011-January 8, 2012); San Diego Museum of Art (February 18-July 22, 2012).

Source URL: https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1972.166