The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of April 21, 2024

Deity

Deity

1100s
(794–1185)
Magnolia wood with traces of color
Overall: 100 cm (39 3/8 in.)
John L. Severance Fund 1954.373
Location: not on view

Description

This unidentified sculpture represents a mature male figure with a long beard. His robes, crown-like head ornament, and hair arranged into a topknot resemble the attire and styling of members of the heavenly realm—tenbu in Japanese—of the Buddhist cosmos. The comparatively simple design, along with carving marks purposely left by the sculptor throughout the surface tend to be associated with sculptures of kami, deities venerated at shrines, or jinja.
  • Ryūzaburō Umehara 梅原 龍三郎 [1888-1986], Tokyo, Japan
    ?-1954
    (Hollis & Company, New York, NY and Cleveland, OH, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)
    1954-
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Lee, Sherman E. “A Hand and an Image of Wood.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art, vol. 44, no. 1, 1957, pp. 3–9. Reproduced: p. 7 25142178
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art Handbook. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1958. Mentioned and Reproduced: cat. no. 906 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. 275 archive.org
    Mayuyama, Junkichi 繭山順吉. Japanese Art in the West. [Tokyo]: Mayuyama & Co, 1966. Mentioned: p. 342; Reproduced: p. 24, pl. 28
    The Human Adventure IV, grade 6, vol. I. Cleveland: Educational Research Council of Greater Cleveland, 1966-1967. Reproduced: p. 325
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1969. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1969. Reproduced: p. 275 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. 370 archive.org
    Zenzo Shimizu 清水善三. "Japanese Sculptures in America and Canada," Ars Buddhica 佛教藝術, no. 126 (September 1979), part I, pp. 67-88. Reproduced: fig. 21
    Mertz, Mechtild, Suyako Tazuru, Shirō Itō, and Cynthea J. Bogel. "A Group of Twelfth-Century Japanese Kami Statues and Considerations of Material Intentionality: Collaborative Research Among Wood Scientists and Art Historians." Journal of Asian Humanities at Kyushu University, vol. 7 (Spring 2022), pp. 127–159. Reproduced: fig. 5
    Christie, Manson & Woods. Masterpieces from the Collection of Sam Josefowitz: A Lifetime of Discovery and Scholarship. London: Christie's, 2023. Mentioned and reproduced: p. 126
  • Japanese Gallery 235 Rotation - July 2017-January 2018. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (July 15, 2017-January 2, 2018).
    Katachi: Form and Spirit in Japanese Art. The Albuquerque Museum, Albuquerque, NM (organizer) (March 2-June 8, 1980).
    Japanese Art Exhibition. Albuquerque Museum of Art, History and Science, Albuquerque, NM (1980).
    Art: The International Language. The Cleveland Museum of Art (October 2-November 4, 1956).
  • {{cite web|title=Deity|url=false|author=|year=1100s|access-date=21 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1954.373