CHINE Ming Lacquered Wood Sculpture of a Seated Buddha

A magnificent large wood figure of Manjusri seated on a lion. China, Yuan dynasty, 14th century

Sutra cover with repeating pattern of the Chinese character shou (longevity); green on a red background. Silk twill damask in two colors.

This Buddha holds his hands in a “wisdom fist,” a gesture in which the left hand grasps the index finger of the right hand. This identifies him as Vairocana, one of the many celestial, or transcendent, Buddhas who were particularly important in China from the sixth through tenth centuries

The Buddha in this altarpiece can be identified as the Buddha Maitreya upon comparison with the larger dated and inscribed altarpiece that is also in the collection. In both, the Buddha is surrounded by an entourage of music-making apsaras, the angel-like beings that appear frequently in Buddhist art

The Oriental Ceramic Society of London and The British Museum. "Chinese Ivories from the Shang to the Qing," May 23, 1984–August 19, 1984.New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Extravagant Display: Chinese Art in the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries," December 14, 2010–May 1, 2011

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Where Asia Meets America

Buddhist Triad & Mandorla, Northern Wei Dynasty

Online Collection | Freer Sackler Galleries

Bid Live on Lot 59 in the Asian, Himalayan & Indian Works of Art Auction from Florence Number Nine.

The two bodhisattvas seen here can be identified by the symbols on their headdresses: the figure on the right is Avalokiteshvara (as indicated by the presence of a small Buddha), and the figure on the left, wearing the symbol of a vase, is Mahasthamaprapta

Il n'y a en art, ni passé, ni futur. L'art qui n'est pas dans le présent ne sera jamais. (Pablo Picasso) (Page 33)

The Freer Gallery of Art and the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery are the Smithsonian's museums of Asian art.