The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of April 25, 2024

Rubbing of Imperial Procession with Emperor, taken from Northern Wei dynasty (386–534) Central Binyang Cave, Longmen, Henan Province

1910–16

China, Qing dynasty

(1644-1911) or Republican period (1912-49)

Rubbing, ink on paper

Overall: 205.6 x 388.4 cm (80 15/16 x 152 15/16 in.)

Gift of Yamanaka & Company 1916.64

Location: not on view

Did You Know?

A rubbing is taken directly from a carved stone’s surface, so the resulting image has the same orientation as the original carving.

Description

This rubbing was taken from stone reliefs commissioned by the Northern Wei emperor Xuanwu (reigned 500–515) in honor of his deceased parents.

Here the lead figure, surrounded by attendants who hold parasols and offerings, is about to place an incense stick into a censer held by an attendant in the lower right corner. The main figures in both this and its companion rubbing presumably depict the emperor’s deceased parents as lead figures. The entire procession can be understood as making offerings to the main Buddha image in the cave, as an act of gaining merit.

?-1916
Yamanaka and Company, New York, NY, given to the Cleveland Museum of Art
1916-
The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
Coleman, Fletcher. "Encountering Chinese sculpture in America: the early pedagogy and exhibition of monumental ink rubbings from Longmen" Orientations 51, no. 1 (January/February 2020): 92-102. Reproduction: p.93, fig. 1; p.94, fig.2; p.101 fig. 10; Mention; p. 92; p. 102
From Caves to Tombs: Chinese Pictorial Rubbings from Stone Reliefs (Chinese art rotation). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 11-November 14, 2021).
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Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1916.64