Skip to Main Content

Eleven-Headed Guanyin

十一面觀音菩薩

1100–1200
(1115-1234)
wood with polychromy and cut gold
Overall: 218.5 cm (86 in.)
Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund 1981.53
Location: 238 Chinese Ceramics
You can copy, modify, and distribute this work, all without asking permission. Learn more about CMA's Open Access Initiative.

Download, Print and Share

Did You Know?

This Guanyin is carved from a single block of willow (genus Salix sp.).

Description

The bodhisattva is an enlightened being dedicated to the spiritual awakening of all beings. The compassionate bodhisattva Guanyin, in a variety of manifestations, is probably the most popular deity of worship in Chinese Buddhism. In the Esoteric Buddhist form shown here, this standing Guanyin has a total of eleven heads, with smaller ones above the principal head. The uppermost head represents the Buddha Amitabha, to whom he is closely related. The eleven heads symbolize the Buddha’s steps on the path to enlightenment.
Eleven-Headed Guanyin

Eleven-Headed Guanyin

1100–1200

China, late Northern Song dynasty (960-1127) - Jin dynasty (1115-1234)

See Also

Videos

Eleven-Headed Guanyin - Chinese language version

Eleven-Headed Guanyin

Visually Similar by AI

Contact us

The information about this object, including provenance, may not be currently accurate. If you notice a mistake or have additional information about this object, please email collectionsdata@clevelandart.org.

To request more information about this object, study images, or bibliography, contact the Ingalls Library Reference Desk.

All images and data available through Open Access can be downloaded for free. For images not available through Open Access, a detail image, or any image with a color bar, request a digital file from Image Services.