Votive tablet

Object Details

• Description

  Buddhist plaque: rectangular, with a pointed top.

  Blackened by fire.

  Clay: soft, dense, gray.

  Unglazed.

  Decoration: modeled in low relief on the face. Twelve characters within squares in relief on the back.

  One of a pair with F1911.330.

• Label

  The inscription on this Buddhist plaque identifies it s a special type of votive object that is said to have the ashes of cremated monks mixed into the clay. Such plaques were believed to help repel evil and attract auspiciousness; the text refers to achieving a blissful state known as "Paradise body." Many similar plaques have been excavated from temples dating to the Tang dynasty (618-907), where they may have been used to line the walls or serve as devotional objects.

• Provenance

  To 1911

  Unidentified owner, Honan-fu, China, to 1911 [1]

  From 1911 to 1919

  Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from an unidentified owner at Honan-fu in 1911 [2]

  From 1920

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

  Notes:

  [1] See Original Pottery List, L. 2101, 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

  Palaces and Pavilions: Grand Architecture in Chinese Painting (September 29, 2002 to March 30, 2003)

  Year of the Horse: Chinese Horse Paintings (February 24 to September 2, 2002)

  A Brief History of Chinese Writing (April 26, 2000 to February 9, 2002)

  Beyond Paper: Chinese Calligraphy on Objects (August 18, 1994 to July 3, 1997)

• Previous custodian or owner

  Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919)

• Origin

  China

• Credit Line

  Gift of Charles Lang Freer

• Type

  Ceremonial Object

• Restrictions and Rights

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Keep Exploring

• Related Resources

  collections.si.edu

• Date

  1910s, 600s

• Name

  Freer, Charles Lang

• Place

  China

• Topic

  Charles Lang Freer collection, Art, Chinese Art, Tang dynasty (618 - 907), Ceramics

• Culture

  Buddhists, Chinese

• Object Type

  Ceremonial objects