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Gallery Text

This clay bodhisattva was one of eight attendant figures — six bodhisattvas and two disciples — surrounding a central sculpture of a seated, preaching Shakyamuni Buddha in an early Tang dynasty cave in the Mogao complex at Dunhuang. With his companions, this figure, captured in a pose of quiet reverence, would have served to direct the worshipper’s attention to the exalted Buddha at center. Unlike the figures from Tianlongshan on display in the first-floor Buddhist gallery, this sculpture was not carved into the stone walls of a cave; rather, it was formed by applying clay mixed with fibers and straw to a wooden armature and allowing it to harden naturally. Damage to the ends of the ribbon-like scarf dangling from the bodhisattva’s arms reveals the cores of bamboo twigs around which the clay mixture was packed. A thin layer of white was used to unify and brighten the clay surface, and select areas were embellished with polychromy and gilding.

Identification and Creation

Object Number
1924.70
Title
Kneeling Attendant Bodhisattva (from Mogao Cave 328, Dunhuang, Gansu province)
Classification
Sculpture
Work Type
figure, sculpture
Date
late 7th century
Places
Creation Place: East Asia, China, Gansu province, Dunhuang
Period
Tang dynasty, 618-907
Culture
Chinese
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/303672

Location

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

Medium
Unfired clay mixed with fibers and straw modeled over wooden armature; with polychromy and gilding
Dimensions
figure: H. 90.8 × W. 33 × D. 38.1 cm (35 3/4 × 13 × 15 in.)
lotus base: H. 28.6 × Diam. 67.3 cm (11 1/4 × 26 1/2 in.)
overall: H. 121.9 × W. 67.3 × D. 67.3 cm (48 × 26 1/2 × 26 1/2 in.), 195 lb

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History
From Mogao Cave 328, 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
1924.70
Division
Asian and Mediterranean Art
Contact
am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu
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Publication History

  • Kristin A. Mortimer and William G. Klingelhofer, Harvard University Art Museums: A Guide to the Collections, Harvard University Art Museums and Abbeville Press (Cambridge and New York, 1986), no. 26, p. 31
  • James Cuno, Alvin L. Clark, Jr., Ivan Gaskell, and William W. Robinson, Harvard's Art Museums: 100 Years of Collecting, ed. James Cuno, Harvard University Art Museums and Harry N. Abrams, Inc. (Cambridge, MA, 1996), pp. 56-57
  • Masterpieces of world art : Fogg Art Museum, Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Busch-Reisinger Museum, 1997
  • 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
  • Jacqueline M. Moore and Rebecca Woodward Wendelken, ed., Teaching the Silk Road, State University of New York Press (Albany, NY, 2010), p. 94, fig. 6.5.
  • Karl E. Meyer and Shareen Blair Brysac, The China Collectors: America's Century-Long Hunt for Asian Art Treasures, Palgrave Macmillan Ltd (New York, 2015), p. 73, ill.
  • Francesca Bewer, Katherine Eremin, and Angela Chang, Chemistry Revisited in a Laboratory for Art, Engaging Conservation: Collaboration Across Disciplines, ed. Nina Owczarek, Molly Gleeson, and Lynn Grant, Archetype Publications (London, UK, 2017), Pages 190-198, Figure 1, Page 191; Figure 3, Page 192; Figure 4, Page 193

Exhibition History

  • S426a: Dunhuang Sculpture and Murals, Harvard University Art Museums, Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Cambridge, 10/20/1985 - 04/30/2008
  • Re-View: S228-230 Arts of Asia, Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Cambridge, 05/31/2008 - 06/01/2013
  • 32Q: 2740 Buddhist II, Harvard Art Museums, 11/16/2014 - 01/01/2050

Subjects and Contexts

  • Collection Highlights
  • Google Art Project

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Verification Level

This record has been reviewed by the curatorial staff but may be 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