The Cleveland Museum of Art
Collection Online as of March 29, 2024
Bodhisattva
700s
(618-907)
Overall: 44 x 37 cm (17 5/16 x 14 9/16 in.)
Location: 241C Chinese Buddhist Sculptures
Did You Know?
While lacquer is tough and impervious to insects, it is less durable than wooden or stone sculptures, so this is a rare surviving Tang example.Description
The bodhisattva, an enlightened being dedicated to the spiritual awakening of all beings, is shown sitting in a relaxed pose, the eyes half-closed in an expression of profound meditation. The statue is modeled in a sensuous manner.It is made using the dry lacquer technique whereby a clay core is first constructed and then overlaid with fabrics saturated with lacquer. Once the lacquer layers are set, the core is removed. This kind of hollow dry lacquer statue is lightweight and easy to carry.
The piece once suffered from severe surface retouching that distorted its original beauty. The museum's conservation work has removed coats of overpainting and over-restoration, revealing the true appearance of the glossy black lacquered surface with traces of cut-gold decoration and pigments.
- by 1933–?(C.T. Loo 盧芹齋 [1880–1957], Paris, France)?–1983The Mount Trust of Captain Vivian Francis [1891–1968] and Mrs. Cornelia Stuyvesant Vanderbilt Bulkeley-Johnson [1900–1976], Churchill, Oxfordshire, England19 April 1983(Christie's, London, England, 19 April 1983 sale, lot 42)1983(J. E. Eskenazi, Ltd., London, UK, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)1983–The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
- Fischer, Otto. "Chinesische Lacksculptur." Ostasiatische Zeitschrift, IX (1933), 75–77. Mentioned and Reproduced: Pl. 16, fig. 2Gray, Basil. Catalogue of an Exhibition of the Arts of the Sung Dynasty. London: Arts Council of Great Britain and the Oriental Ceramic Society, 1960. Mentioned: no. 292Ayers, John G. The Mount Trust Collection of Chinese Art. London: Victoria and Albert Museum, 1970. Mentioned and Reproduced: no. 69Christie, Manson & Woods Limited. Fine Chinese Ceramics, Bronzes, Ivories and Works of Art: The Properties of F.A. Fairbairn; Mrs. Anne How; Lady Neville; R.H. Newsholme; Dr. Marcos Tang; the Mount Trust; the Lord Walpole and from Various Sources; Which Will Be Sold at Christie's Great Rooms on Tuesday 19 April 1983. London: Christie, Manson & Woods Ltd., 1983. Lot 42Turner, Evan H. “Year in Review for 1983.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 71, no. 2 (1984): 38–79. Mentioned: no. 237, pp. 47 and 77; Reproduced: no. 237, p. 46 www.jstor.orgLee, Sherman E. "A Dry Lacquer Buddhist Image from T'ang China." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 71, no. 3 (1984): 90–99. Mentioned: pp. 90–99; Reproduced: figs. 1-5, 10 www.jstor.orgLa Chronique des Arts Supplement a la Gazette des Beaux Arts, no. 1382 (March 1984). Mentioned and Reproduced: p. 21, no. 132Candace Lewis, "Report from America (East Coast)." Oriental Art, n.s. XXX, no. 3 (Autumn 1984), pp. 293–294.Dempsey, James H. “The Annual Report for 1984.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 72, no. 4 (1985): 242–98. Mentioned: pp. 261, 267; Reproduced: p. 267 www.jstor.orgNeils, Jenifer. “The Twain Shall Meet.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art, vol. 72, no. 6, 1985, pp. 326–359. Reproduced: p. 342, fig. 32 www.jstor.orgHollendonner, Frederick L., "Restoration of an early Chinese Hollow Dry Lacquer Figure." In The Conservation of Far Eastern Art: Preprints of the Contributions to the Kyoto Congress, 19-23 September 1988. John S. Mills, Perry Smith, and Kazuo Yamasaki, editors. London: International Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works, 1988. Mentioned: pp. 146-148; Reproduced: figs. 1–4Slusser, Mary Shpherd. "The Art of East Asian Lacquer Sculptures." Orientations vol. 27, no. 1 (Jan. 1996): pp. 16–30. Mentioned and Reproduced: p. 19, fig. 6Cunningham, Michael R., Stanislaw J. Czuma, Anne E. Wardwell, and J. Keith Wilson. Masterworks of Asian Art. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1998. Mentioned and Reproduced: pp. 46–47Sun, Di 孙迪, 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. 6, p. 1226Chung, Anita. "A Connoisseur's Eye, A Scholar's Mind: The Legacy of Sherman Lee." Orientations vol. 40, no. 5 (2009). Mentioned and Reproduced: p. 31, fig. 5Chung, Anita. "Two Bodhisattva Images in The Cleveland Museum of Art." Orientations vol. 41, no. 8 (Nov./Dec. 2010): pg. 89–92. Mentioned and Reproduced: pp. 89–90, fig. 1 and 1a-bEskenazi, Giuseppe, and Hajni Elias. A Dealer's Hand: The Chinese Art World Through the Eyes of Giuseppe Eskenazi. London, England: Scala, 2012. p. 58Cleveland Museum of Art. The CMA Companion: A Guide to the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2014. Mentioned and reproduced: P. 96
- Streams and Mountains Without End: Asian Art and the Legacy of Sherman E. Lee at the Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 27-August 23, 2009).The Twain Shall Meet. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (October 30, 1985-January 5, 1986).The Year in Review for 1983. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 22-April 8, 1984).The Mount Trust Collection of Chinese Art. Victoria and Albert Museum, London, England (January-March 1970).The Arts of the Sung Dynasty. Arts Council of Great Britain and the Oriental Ceramic Society, London, England (June 16–July 23, 1960).
- {{cite web|title=Bodhisattva|url=false|author=|year=700s|access-date=29 March 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}
Source URL:
https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1983.86