Bust of Bodhisattva (from the north wall of Mogao Cave 329 at Dunhuang, Gansu province)

Gallery Text

This figure’s high chignon and the locks of hair tumbling over his shoulders, in combination with his benevolent countenance, silken scarves, and abundant jewelry, identify him as a bodhisattva. Fragmentary elements of figures to the right and left indicate that he was originally part of a group arrayed around a more exalted deity. His frontal presentation, black (as opposed to blue) hair, and lack of a halo reveal that he is a lesser bodhisattva, not one of the elevated, named bodhisattvas that would have appeared near the center of the original composition, facing and proximate to the central buddha. Indeed, this figure was once a part of the same entourage of figures in which the Kneeling Attendant Holding a Triple Jewel (1924.41), at left, was originally placed.

Identification and Creation

Object Number: 1924.42
Title: Bust of Bodhisattva (from the north wall of Mogao Cave 329 at Dunhuang, Gansu province)
Classification: Paintings
Work Type: mural painting
Date: 7th century
Places: Creation Place: East Asia, China, Gansu province, Dunhuang
Period: Tang dynasty, 618-907
Culture: Chinese
Persistent Link: https://hvrd.art/o/210067

Location

Location: Level 2, Room 2740, Buddhist Art, The Efflorescence of East Asian and Buddhist Art

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Physical Descriptions

Medium: Section of a wall painting; polychromy on unfired clay
Dimensions: painting proper (irregular): H. 34.7 x W. 21.3 cm (13 11/16 x 8 3/8 in.)
framed: H. 73.5 x W. 53.5 x D. 3.5 cm (28 15/16 x 21 1/16 x 1 3/8 in.)

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History: From Mogao Cave 329, Dunhuang, Gansu province; acquired during the First Fogg Expedition to China (1923-24) led by Langdon Warner (1881-1955)

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line: Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, First Fogg Expedition to China (1923-1924)
Accession Year: 1924
Object Number: 1924.42
Division: Asian and Mediterranean Art
Contact: am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu
Permissions: The Harvard Art Museums encourage the use of images found on this website for personal, noncommercial use, including educational and scholarly purposes. To request a higher resolution file of this image, please submit an online request.

Publication History

Sanchita Balachandran, "Research into the Collecting and Conservation History of Chinese Wall Paintings from Dunhuang in the Harvard University Art Museums" (thesis (certificate in conservation), Straus Center for Conservation and Technical Studies, 2004), Unpublished, passim
Sanchita Balachandran, Object Lessons: The Politics of Preservation and Museum Building in Western China in the Early Twentieth Century, International Journal of Cultural Property (2007), Vol. 14, No. 1, 1-32

Exhibition History

32Q: 2740 Buddhist II, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, 11/16/2014 - 12/02/2024; Harvard Art Museums, 11/16/2014 - 01/01/2050

Subjects and Contexts

Google Art Project

Verification Level

This record was created from historic documentation and may not have been reviewed by a curator; it may be inaccurate or incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. For more information please contact the Division of Asian and Mediterranean Art at am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu

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1924.42: Bust of Bodhisattva (from the north wall of Mogao Cave 329 at Dunhuang, Gansu province)