The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 18, 2025

Dancing Apsaras

900s

China, late Tang dynasty

(618–907) to Five dynasties (907–960)
dry lacquer
Overall: 36.3 cm (14 5/16 in.)
John L. Severance Fund 1953.356
Location: Not on view

Did You Know?

The sculpture was made from a rare technique involving alternate layers of cloth and lacquer, modeled on an armature or around a removable clay core.
  • ? by 1943
    Yamanaka, New York, NY
    ?–1953
    (Heeramaneck Galleries, New York, NY, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)
    1953–
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Yamanaka & Company. Collection of Chinese and Other Far Eastern Art. New York, NY: [Printed by the John B. Watkins Co., New York], 1943. Reproduced: no. 383
    Lee, Sherman E. “A Chinese Lacquer Sculpture.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 43, no. 1 (January 1956): 6–9. Mentioned: pp. 6, 8–9; Reproduced: p. 7 www.jstor.org
    Trubner, Henry Trubner. 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: Los Angeles County Museum, 1957. cat no. 59
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art Handbook. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1958. Mentioned and Reproduced: cat. no. 825 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. 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
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978. Reproduced: p. 334 archive.org
    Lee, Sherman E. “A Dry Lacquer Buddhist Image from T’ang China.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 71, no. 3 (March 1984): 90–99. Mentioned and reproduced: p. 93, fig. 7 www.jstor.org
    Guo li gu gong bo wu yuan [National Palace Museum = 國立故宮博物院]. Hai wai yi zhen, Yu qi [海外遺珎,漆器= Chinese art in overseas collections, lacquerware]. Taibei Shi Shilin qu: Guo li gu gong bo wu yuan, 1987. Reproduced: pl. 18
  • Traditions and Revisions: Themes from the History of Sculpture. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (September 24-November 16, 1975).
    The Arts of the T'ang Dynasty. Los Angeles County Museum, Los Angeles, CA (January 8-February 17, 1957).
  • {{cite web|title=Dancing Apsaras|url=false|author=|year=900s|access-date=18 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1953.356