The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 1, 2023

Amitabha

阿彌陀佛

mid-1000s

China, Yunnan province, Dali kingdom

(938–1253)

Gilt bronze

Overall: 23 cm (9 1/16 in.)

Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund 1942.1082

Location

241C Chinese Buddhist Sculptures

Fun Fact

This gilt bronze Buddha is similar in style to another rare piece in the Shanghai Museum, which bears an inscription dating it to 1043, the second year of the Shengming reign of the Dali kingdom.

Description

This delicately crafted statue of Amitabha, the Buddha of Infinite Light, bears testimony to the flowering of Buddhist art under the Liao Empire established by the Khitans, a nomadic Mongolian people, after the Tang persecution of Buddhists in 845.

The Liao rulers were devout Buddhists who commissioned substantial religious projects. Liao Buddhist artifacts reflecting close ties to the Tang traditions were likely executed by displaced or enslaved artisans as a result of the Khitan conquest of northern China.

Provenance
?–1942
(Heeramaneck Galleries, New York, NY, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)
1942–
The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
Citations
"The Cleveland Museum of Art Annual Report Issue for the Year 1942." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 30, no. 4 (1943): 35-54. Mentioned: p. 38 www.jstor.org
The Arts of the T'ang Dynasty; A Loan Exhibition Organized by the Los Angeles County Museum from Collections in America, the Orient, and Europe, January 8-February 17, 1957. Los Angeles, CA: The Los Angeles County Museum, 1957. Mentioned and Reproduced: no. 97, pl. 97
The Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art Handbook. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1958. Mentioned and Reproduced: cat. no. 826 archive.org
The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1966. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1966. Reproduced: p. 254 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. 254 archive.org
The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978. Reproduced: p. 335 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. Reproduced: vol. 7, p. 1375
Woon, Wee Teng 雲惟慶. The Hidden Treasures of Nanzhao & Dali Kingdoms, with Other Artifacts from Yunnan 雲南之寶 : 南詔, 大理國等珍藏. Singapore: Woon Brothers Foundation, 2014. Mentioned and Reproduced: p. 102, fig. 3.1d
Boehm, Christian. "Buddhist Bronzes of the Dali Kingdom in Yunnan Province." Arts of Asia 45, no. 4 (July-August 2015): 65-75. Reproduced: p. 65, fig. 1
Exhibition history

The Arts of the T'ang Dynasty. Los Angeles County Museum, Los Angeles, CA (January 8–February 17, 1957).

Chinese Art Under the Mongols: The Yüan Dynasty, 1279-1368. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (October 1-November 24, 1968).

Source URL: https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1942.1082