Guanyin
Date485
Maker
Chinese
Label TextBuddhism was established in China by the 2nd century, and the production of Buddhist images became widespread in the 4th century when northern China was ruled by groups from Central Asia. This altar image was commissioned by someone named Huizi during the Northern Wei period, a time when a non-Chinese clan known as the Tuoba ruled. The inscription on the base of the sculpture shares his hope to improve his family’s karma: “...Buddhist disciple Huizi respectfully made this one statue of Guanyin in memory of my father, mother, and family with good wishes.”
Object number48.177
Photo CreditPhoto: iocolor, LLP
Exhibition HistorySeattle, Washington, Seattle Art Museum, "Chinese Metalwork", July 12, 1988 (07/12/1988)
Paris, France, Musee Cernuschi, RENE GROUSSET MEMORIAL EXHIBIT #102, 1954. (1954 - 1954)
Vancouver, British Columbia, Vancouver Art Gallery, "Distant Reverence: Buddhist Sculpture From The Seattle Art Museum", August 16 - October 22, 1989 (08/16/1989 - 10/22/1989)
Seattle, Washington, Seattle Asian Art Museum, Boundless: Stories of Asian Art, Feb. 8, 2020 - ongoing.
Published ReferencesArtibus Asiae, vol. 12, no. 1/2 (1949), p. 5 ff.
University of Michigan, Museum of Art cat., (1950), no. 11 and fig.
"Handbook, Seattle Art Museum: Selected Works from the Permanent Collections." Seattle, WA: Seattle Art Museum, 1951, p. 53 (b&w)
Paris, Musée Cernuschi, Cat., “La découverte de L’Asie,” Hommage a René Grousset (1954), no. 102, p. 28, p. 155 (V), pl. V
Lee, Sherman E. "Five Early Gilt Bronzes," in Artibus Asiae, vol. 12, no. 1/2 (1949), pp. 11-13 ff., figs. 5, 6
Munsterberg, Hugo. "Chinese Buddhist Bronzes," pl. 41, p. 64
Trubner, H. and Wm. J. Rathbun, C.A. Kaputa. "Asiatic Art in the Seattle Art Museum," (1973), p. 148, no. 93 (color plate p. 53)
Mayuyama, Junkichi. "Mayuyama, Seventy Years," (1976), vol. II, p. 57, pl. 112Credit LineThomas D. Stimson Memorial Collection
Dimensions8 1/2 x 3 1/2 x 2 7/8 in. (21.59 x 8.89 x 7.3 cm)
Overall h.: 24.13 cm
MediumGilded bronze
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