Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara as the Water-Moon Guanyin

Object Details

• Description

  Seated figure of Guanyin on a rocky ledge with a dragon coming out the water; animals and figures fill the rocky niches around Guanyin. To the left of the deity, a humanlike figure with a tail and a child on its back offers a bowl to Guanyin. Inscription on reverse with date of 1091.

• Inscriptions

  Inscription includes a date of year 6 of the Yuanyou reign.

• Label

  Charles Lang Freer bought this sculpture in 1913 with complete confidence in the inscribed date of 1091. A decade later, the Freer Gallery's first director, John Ellerton Lodge, mused that the piece seemed "crude and not so early." In the 1960s the sculpture was reevaluated and the date of 1091 was confirmed by relating the sculpture to similar works in Chinese and foreign collections.

  The long inscription on the reverse identifies the deity as Guanyin, an identification supported by the special attributes of the sculpture, including his seated posture on a stone ledge, the vase of willow branches, and the bowl of lotus flowers. The precipice refers to Guanyin's supposed residence on a rocky island, and the coiled dragon, a denizen of the seas and special friend of Guanyin, indicates the presence of water.

  Animals and human figures surround the deity, alluding to Guanyin's merciful powers to help all living creatures. The monkey holding out a bowl, at left, refers to a story about a primate who experienced such elation after the Buddha accepted an offering of wild honey from him that he accidentally killed himself performing joyous stunts. In reward for his charity to Buddha, he was reborn as a holy man.

• Provenance

  To 1913

  Yamanaka & Company, New York to 1913 [1]

  From 1913 to 1919

  Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from Yamanaka & Company, New York in 1913 [2]

  From 1920

  The Freer Gallery of Art, gift of Charles Lang Freer in 1920 [3]

  Notes:

  [1] Undated folder sheet note. See S.I. 405, Original Miscellaneous List, pg. 128, 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

  Chinese Buddhist Sculpture in New Light (April 14, 2002 to September 8, 2003)

• Previous custodian or owner

  Yamanaka and Co. 山中商会 (1917-1965) (C.L. Freer source)

  Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919)

• Origin

  China

• Credit Line

  Gift of Charles Lang Freer

• Type

  Sculpture

• Restrictions and Rights

  Usage Conditions Apply

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Keep Exploring

• Related Resources

  collections.si.edu

• Date

  900s, 1200s

• Name

  Freer, Charles Lang, Yamanaka and Co.

• Place

  China

• Topic

  Charles Lang Freer collection, Art, Chinese Art, Mudra, Northern Song dynasty (960 - 1127), Stone, Bodhisattva, Dragon, Guanyin

• Culture

  Buddhists, Chinese

• Object Type

  Sculpture