The Buddhas Prabhutaratna and Sakyamuni seated sided by side

Object Details

• Description

  The Buddhas Duobao (Prabhutaratna) and Sakyamuni seated side by side. In two pieces, with wood stand. Surface: gilded; earthy incrustations, and green patina on worn areas. Inscription on rear of base. (Gilt bronze)

• Inscriptions

  1. (From original folder sheet note 2) (A.G.W., 1944) The inscription of 29 characters reads: [chn] which may be rendered, "The 26th day of the 10th moon of the 5th year of the Ta Yeh Emperor, (Nov. 28, A.D. 609), the devoted religious daughter Chang P'eng-lo has respectfully made for her Father and Mother one statuette of Hu-men-ho and To-pao.

  The inscription is fairly clear except for the 25th character which is written [chn] and seems to be an abbreviation for [chn] to. Another curious thing about it are the 22nd, 23rd and 24th characters which also seem to be a Buddhist name, but the combination does not appear in any of the lists available to me. Iconographically, however, we seem to have here a representation referring to the [chn] Miao fa lien hua ching /Sddharma pundarika sutra/ or "The lotus of the wonderful law" traditionally said to contain the final teaching of Gautama Sakyamuni spoken toward the end of his life on the Vulture Peak in Nepal. In Chapter eleven of this sutra is told the story of how there appeared from the earth a stupa containing a former Buddha, Prabutaratna who extolled the teachings of Gautama and invited him to enter and sit beside him on his throne, which Gautama accordingly did. (See W.E. Soothill, The lotus of the wonderful law, pp. 162-163). Since we seem to have mentioned in the inscription the Chinese name for Prabutaratna, i.e., To-pao, it would seem to follow that the characters Hu-men-ho which precede it must be an attempt to express the name Gautama in dialect, -----or perhaps only the last character of the three ho refers to him, while the characters hu-men might refer to India, the country of the Buddha's origin and the Buddhist religion. The object was formerly in the collection of Mrs. Christian R. Holmes.

  2. (From original folder sheet note 3) (Angela F. Howard, Rutgers University, June 1991)

  The inscription is carved on the back of the dais:

  [chn]

• Provenance

  From at least 1938

  Mrs. Christian R. Holmes (1871-1941), New York and "The Chimneys," Sands Point, Port Washington, Long Island, from at least October 1938. [1]

  From at least 1944 to 1945

  Tonying and Company, New York from at least March 8, 1944. [2]

  From 1945

  Freer Gallery of Art, purchased from Tonying and Company, New York on May 24, 1945. [3]

  Notes:

  [1] Mrs. Holmes lent the sculpture to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York in 1938, see Chinese Bronzes of the Shang (1766-1122 B. C.) through the T’ang Dynasty (A.D. 618-906) (New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, October 19-November 27, 1938), cat. 275. See also A. G. Wenley’s letter to C. F. Yau, Tonying and Co., dated May 22, 1945, copy in object file, in which Wenley confirms acquisition of the sculpture and states that it came from Mrs. Christian R. Holmes’s collection.

  [2] See “List of Objects Contemplated for Purchase by the Freer Gallery of Art,” approved by the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution on March 8, 1944, copy in object file.

  [3] See Tonying & Company’s invoice, dated May 24, 1945, in which the object figures under no. B. 58: “Gilt bronze Shrine / Six Dynasties,” copy in object file.

• Collection

  Freer Gallery of Art Collection

• Exhibition History

  Encountering the Buddha: Art and Practice Across Asia (October 14, 2017 to February 6, 2022)

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

  Chinese Art (January 1, 1963 to March 6, 1981)

  Special Exhibit for King and Queen of Nepal (April 26, 1960 to January 1, 1963)

  Untitled Exhibition, Chinese Buddhist Art (July 19, 1958 to April 26, 1960)

  Special Exhibition, Chinese Art, 1946 (August 7, 1946 to January 7, 1947)

  Untitled Exhibition, Chinese Painting and Sculpture (November 15, 1944 to February 25, 1956)

  Stone Sculpture, Buddhist Bronze, and Chinese Painting (May 2, 1923 to February 25, 1956)

• Previous custodian or owner

  Mrs. Christian R. Holmes (1871-1941)

  Tonying and Company 通運公司 (established 1902)

• Origin

  China

• Credit Line

  Purchase — Charles Lang Freer Endowment

• Type

  Sculpture

• Restrictions and Rights

  Usage Conditions Apply

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Keep Exploring

• Related Resources

  collections.si.edu

• Date

  600s

• Name

  Holmes, Christian R., Tonying and Company

• Place

  China

• Topic

  Gilding, Bronze, Sui dynasty (581 - 618), Art, Sculpture, Shakyamuni, Chinese Art, Varada mudra, Abhaya mudra, Prabhutaratna Buddha, Metal-work

• Culture

  Buddhists, Chinese

• Object Type

  Sculpture