Bodhisattva Guanyin (581–618): Art, History and Details

Bodhisattva Guanyin (581–618) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection.

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

Portable Buddhist figures and objects like this gilt bronze had a variety of uses. They could have been carried in religious processions. Others could serve as donations, souvenirs, or votive items in the context of pilgrimages to religious sites. Their miniature size also made them appropriate for placement on private altars or shrines for personal devotion.

Object facts

• Title: Bodhisattva Guanyin
• Date: 581–618
• Culture: China, Sui dynasty (581-618)
• Type: Sculpture
• Technique: gilt bronze
• Dimensions: Overall: 8.3 cm (3 1/4 in.)
• Collection: China - Sui Dynasty
• Department: Chinese Art
• Accession number: 1962.217

A detail from the museum

Guanyin, the Bodhisattva of Compassion, is seated in the lalitasana pose, at royal ease with one leg tucked and one leg hanging down.

Collection credit

Gift of Mrs. John Lyon Collyer in memory of her mother, Mrs. G. M. G. Forman

Further reading listed by the museum

• Lee, Sherman E. “Year in Review 1962.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 49, no. 9 (1962): 199–227.

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.