Water and Moon (Potala) Guanyin (900–1100): Art, History and Details

Water and Moon (Potala) Guanyin (900–1100) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection.

The work and its context

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

The Water and Moon Guanyin is seated in the posture called "royal ease." His right leg is drawn up with folded knee; the left leg flexed. One hand rests on the upraised knee; the other extends downward to support weight on the palm. With gilding, the image assumes the splendor of divine dignity.

Object facts

• Title: Water and Moon (Potala) Guanyin
• Date: 900–1100
• Culture: China, Five dynasties (907-960) - Song dynasty (960-1279)
• Type: Sculpture
• Technique: gilt bronze
• Dimensions: Overall: 17.6 cm (6 15/16 in.)
• Collection: China - Five Dynasties
• Department: Chinese Art
• Accession number: 1984.7

A detail from the museum

The deity wears a short-sleeved garment draped over his finely striated hair and shoulders.

Collection credit

The Severance and Greta Millikin Purchase Fund

Further reading listed by the museum

• Small Sculpture, Shang Through Sung Dynasties: A Loan Exhibition. New York: Chinese Art Society of America, 1954.
• Sotheby Parke Bernet Inc., New York. Important Chinese Works of Art: The Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Richard C. Bull. 6 December 1983.
• Turner, Evan H. "The Year in Review for 1984." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 72, no. 2 (1985): 163–207.

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.