The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 14, 2025

Fang Xuanling Pedestal

647

China, Tang dynasty

(618-907)
marble
Overall: 66 cm (26 in.)
Worcester R. Warner Collection 1915.334.2
Location: 241B Arts of Ancient China

Did You Know?

In front, the top layer of the pedestal has an abstract curvilinear motif suggesting drapery; the rear is carved with a flower-and-leaf motif.

Description

This double lotus pedestal exhibits the rich, ornate style of early Tang sculpture. It was commissioned by the Duke of Liang, Fang Xuanling (578–648), for the blessing of his second son and daughter-in-law, the Tang imperial princess of Gaoyang. The iconography and inscription suggest that it originally went with a statue, now missing, of Shakyamuni, the historical Buddha, instead of Amitayus.

Today the pedestal is topped with Amitayus, the Buddha of Infinite Life, seated in meditation. Although the pedestal was not made with the statue, the combination is faithful to the original artistic conception.
  • ?–1915
    Worcester R. Warner [1846–1929], Cleveland, OH, given to the Cleveland Museum of Art
    1915–
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1925. Mentioned and Reproduced: 50 archive.org
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1928. Reproduced: p. 63 archive.org
    “Annual Report of the Year 1958.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 46, no. 6 (June 1959): 111–158. Reproduced: p. 114
  • Inaugural Exhibition. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (co-organizer) (June 6-September 20, 1916).
  • {{cite web|title=Fang Xuanling Pedestal|url=false|author=|year=647|access-date=14 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1915.334.2