Collection Online as of December 1, 2023

Pair of Guardian Kings (Niō)

1200s

Part of a set. See all set records

Japan, Kamakura period

(1185-1333)

Chestnut and cypress wood

Overall: 167.9 cm (66 1/8 in.)

Leonard C. Hanna, Jr. Fund 1972.158

Location

not on view

Fun Fact

This is one of a pair of guardian kings, or Nio. Their fierce expressions and postures indicate their protective function.

Description

These wrathful protectors of Buddhism would have once stood within the sides of the main entrance gate to a temple. One has an open mouth that intones the sound ah, and symbolizes the beginning, or life.One has a closed mouth that intones the sound un, and symbolizes the end, or death.

Provenance

Buddhist temple in Shiga Prefecture, Japan

?–1972

(Yanagi Fine Art Shop, Kyoto, Japan, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)

1972–

The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH

Citations

Lee, Sherman E. “The Year in Review for 1972.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art, vol. 60, no. 3, 1973, pp. 63–115. Reproduced: p. 98, no. 290; Mentioned: p. 114 www.jstor.org

Nippon no bijutsu (November 1972), no. 78. pp. 105, 106, 111

Shōichi Uehara. "Wooden Statues of Vajrapāni." Kobijutsu 古美術 (December 1972), no. 39, pp. 111–113. Reproduced: plates pp. 105, 106

Zenzo Shimizu, "Japanese Sculptures in America and Canada," Ars Buddhica 佛教藝術, no. 126 (September 1979), part I, pp. 67-88. Mentioned and Reproduced: p. 70, fig. 13, and p. 71, fig. 14

Roukes, Nicholas. Masters of Wood Sculpture. New York: Watson-Guptill Publishers, 1980. Reproduced: p. 14

Liebson, Milt. Direct Wood Sculpture: Techniques, Innovation, Creativity. Atglen, PA: Schiffer Pub, 2001. p. 14

Exhibition history

Year in Review: 1972. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 27-March 18, 1973).

Traditions and Revisions: Themes from the History of Sculpture. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (September 24-November 16, 1975).

Japanese Gallery 235 Rotation - July 2017-January 2018. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (July 15, 2017-January 2, 2018).