The Bodhisattva Mile (Sanskrit Maitreya), seated in "Pensive Pose"

Terms of Use
Creative CommonsAt A Glance
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Period
ca. 575 -
Geography
China -
Material
Marble with traces of pigment and gesso -
Dimension
H x W x D: 33 x 17.5 x 15.4 cm (13 x 6 7/8 x 6 1/16 in) -
Accession Number
F1911.411 -
EDAN ID
edanmdm:fsg_F1911.411
Object Details
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Label
This sculpture of a bodhisattva, or enlightened being, probably represents the Buddha of the Future (Maitreya in the Indian language Sanskrit) while he was waiting to be reborn into the world as a Buddha. Maitreya waits in heaven meditating beneath a Dragon Tree, which Chinese sculptors typically interpreted to be a ginkgo, like the tree here. The depiction of children emerging from lotuses in a pond on the base of this sculpture is a rare detail on an image of Maitreya. -
Provenance
To 1911Ta Ge Shang, Beijing, to 1911 [1]From 1911 to 1919Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from Ta Ge Shang in 1911 [2]From 1920Freer Gallery of Art, gift of Charles Lang Freer in 1920 [3]Notes:[1] See Original Miscellaneous List, S.I. 308, pg. 76, Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives.[2] See note 1.[3] The original deed of Charles Lang Freer's gift was signed in 1906. The collection was received in 1920 upon the completion of the Freer Gallery. -
Collection
Freer Gallery of Art Collection -
Exhibition History
Encountering the Buddha: Art and Practice Across Asia (October 14, 2017 to February 6, 2022)Promise of Paradise (October 14, 2017 - ongoing)Buddhist Art (May 9, 1993 to August 9, 2011)Studies in Connoisseurship 1923-1983 (September 23, 1983 to March 1, 1984)Early Chinese Pottery and Scultpure, Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1916 (March 6 to October 15, 1916) -
Previous custodian or owner
Ta Ge Shang (C.L. Freer source)Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919) -
Origin
China -
Credit Line
Gift of Charles Lang Freer -
Type
Sculpture -
On View
Freer Gallery 17: Promise of Paradise -
Restrictions and Rights
CC0 - Creative Commons (CC0 1.0)
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