The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 19, 2025

Bodhisattva

700s

China, Hebei province, Tang dynasty

(618-907)
white marble
Overall: 177.8 x 64 x 58.5 cm (70 x 25 3/16 x 23 1/16 in.); without base: 157.4 cm (61 15/16 in.)
Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund 1929.981
Location: 238 Chinese Ceramics

Description

The bodhisattva is an enlightened being dedicated to the spiritual awakening of all beings. This white marble torso exemplifies the quest for refinement and plasticity of form that mark the golden era of Tang Chinese Buddhist sculpture. The statue was conceived with great power and grandeur. The slight sway of the hip on one side and upraised shoulder on the other result in an elegant S-curve. Emphatic lines cut into the stone create a sense of rhythm and reveal the sculptor’s skill and sureness of execution.
  • ?–1929
    (Yamanaka and Company, New York, NY, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)
    1929–
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Omura, Seigai 大村西崖. History of Chinese Art. Tokyo: [publisher not identified],1915., Reproduced: pl. 340, no. 797
    Hollis, Howard C. “A Seventh Century Bodhisattva.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 17, no. 2 (February 1930): 22–23, 27. Mentioned: pp. 22–23; Reproduced: p. 27 www.jstor.org
    Milliken, William. "Silver Jubilee Exhibition." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 28, no.6 (June 1941): 88–108. Mentioned: p. 91; Reproduced: p. 99 www.jstor.org
    Sickman, Laurence C. S., and Alexander Coburn Soper. The Art and Architecture of China. Baltimore: Penguin Books, 1956. Reproduced: p. 74, Pl. 59a
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art Handbook. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1958. Mentioned and Reproduced: cat. no. 823 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 www.jstor.org
    Ono Katsutoshi 小野勝年, ed. Sekai Bijutsu Zenshu [Art of the World = 世界美術全集]. Vol. 15 Sui and Tang 隋. 唐. Tōkyō: Kadokawa Shoten 角川書店, 1961.
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1966. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1966. Reproduced: p. 253 archive.org
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1969. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1969. Reproduced: p. 253 archive.org
    Kadokawa Shoten 角川書店, ed. A Pictorial Encyclopedia of the Oriental Arts. New York: Crown Publishers, 1969. Mentioned: p. 8; Reproduced: 10
    Ars Buddhica 佛教藝術, Vol. 75 (May 1970). Reproduced: pl. 15
    Sickman, Laurence C. S., and Alexander Coburn Soper. The Art and Architecture of China. Harmondsworth, England: Penguin Books, 1971. Reproduced: p. 151, fig. 102
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978. Reproduced: p. 333 archive.org
    Sun, Di, editor. Zhongguo liu shi hai wai Fo jiao zao xiang zong he tu mu [中国流失海外佛教造像总合图目 = Comprehensive Illustrated Catalogue of Chinese Buddhist Statues in Overseas Collections]. Beijing: Wai wen chu ban she, 2005. Mentioned: vol. 6, p. 1119
    Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland Art: The Cleveland Museum of Art Members Magazine. Vol. 53 no. 05, September/October 2013 Mentioned & reproduced: p. 15 archive.org
    Cleveland Museum of Art. The CMA Companion: A Guide to the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2014. Mentioned and reproduced: pp. 96–97
  • EXPO '70, World Exhibition of Masterpieces of World Art. Osaka, Japan (1970).
    The Silver Jubilee Exhibition. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 23-September 28, 1941).
  • {{cite web|title=Bodhisattva|url=false|author=|year=700s|access-date=19 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1929.981