Thousand-armed Thousand-eyed Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara (Guanyin) 明 佚名 《千手千眼觀世音菩薩像》 軸

Object Details

• Artist

  Formerly attributed to Fanlong 梵隆 (active mid-12th century)

• Marks

  Label on back.

• Label

  Multi-armed images of Guanyin, the bodhisattva (enlightened being) of compassion, are popular in several schools of Chinese Buddhism. In its fullest form, the bodhisattva has one thousand arms and hands. Each hand has an eye in its palm that perceives the suffering of the world, and each bears a token that offers a means of salvation.This version has twenty two pairs of arms.

  Wearing a crown decorated with figures of the Five Dhyani (Wisdom) Buddhas, Guanyin sits on a lotus throne before a lunar halo. Above its head, two hands hold aloft an image of the bodhisattva’s patron, Amitabha, the Buddha of Infinite Light. Two other hands, palms together, form a mudra (gesture) of reverence, while a third pair rests in a sign of meditation. The other thirty-eight hands hold symbolic objects, such as a vajra (thunderbolt) to represent enlightenment; willow branches to sprinkle compassion upon believers; a sword to sever the bonds of ignorance; and a lotus to indicate the flowering of the mind. At the foot of the lotus throne stands a Buddhist monk, who offers smoke from an incense burner as an act of devotion.

• Provenance

  To 1917

  Li Wenqing (late 19th-early 20th century), Shanghai, to 1917 [1]

  From 1917 to 1919

  Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from Li Wenqing, in New York, in 1917 [2]

  From 1920

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

  Notes:

  [1] See Original Kakemono and Makimono List, L. 1156, Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives. See also, Voucher No. 18, December 1916. This object exhibits seals, colophons, or inscriptions that could provide additional information regarding the object’s history; see Curatorial Remarks in the object record for further details.

  [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

  Buddhist Art (May 9, 1993 to August 9, 2011)

• Previous custodian or owner

  Li Wenqing 李文卿 (ca. 1869-1931) (C.L. Freer source)

  Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919)

• Origin

  China

• Credit Line

  Gift of Charles Lang Freer

• Type

  Painting

• Restrictions and Rights

  CC0 - Creative Commons (CC0 1.0)

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Keep Exploring

• Related Resources

  collections.si.edu

• Date

  1700s, 1500s

• Name

  Freer, Charles Lang, Li, Wenqing

• Place

  China

• Topic

  Charles Lang Freer collection, Art, Baimiao style, Chinese Art, Incense, Vajra, Ming dynasty (1368 - 1644), Monk, Lotus, Bodhisattva, Guanyin

• Culture

  Buddhists, Chinese

• Object Type

  Paintings