Bodhisattva Guanyin (900s): Art, History and Details

Bodhisattva Guanyin (900s) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection.

The work and its context

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

In Buddhism, a bodhisattva is a being who, just before reaching enlightenment, turns back to assist others to reach enlightenment first. This bodhisattva holds his hand palm forward, in a gesture that tells followers not to fear. In his other hand he carries a bottle that holds the elixir of immortality.

Object facts

• Title: Bodhisattva Guanyin
• Date: 900s
• Culture: China, Liao dynasty (916-1125)
• Type: Sculpture
• Technique: gilt bronze
• Dimensions: Overall: 43.8 cm (17 1/4 in.); Diameter of base: 14.6 cm (5 3/4 in.)
• Collection: China - Liao Dynasty
• Department: Chinese Art
• Accession number: 1976.14

A detail from the museum

The Liao rulers were devout Buddhists who commissioned substantial religious projects.

Collection credit

The Severance and Greta Millikin Purchase Fund

Further reading listed by the museum

• Lee, Sherman E. “The Year in Review for 1976.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 64, no. 2 (1977): 39–79.
• The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978.
• Guo li gu gong bo wu yuan 國立故宮博物院. Hai wai yi zhen. fo xiang [海外遺珎. 佛像 = Chinese art in overseas collections. Buddhist sculpture]. Taibei Shi: Guo li gu gong bo wu yuan, 1986.

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.