The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of April 25, 2024

Pair of Guardian Kings (Niō)

Pair of Guardian Kings (Niō)

1200s
(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

Did You Know?

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.
  • 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
  • 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
  • Japanese Gallery 235 Rotation - July 2017-January 2018. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (July 15, 2017-January 2, 2018).
    Traditions and Revisions: Themes from the History of Sculpture. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (September 24-November 16, 1975).
    Year in Review: 1972. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 27-March 18, 1973).
  • {{cite web|title=Pair of Guardian Kings (Niō)|url=false|author=|year=1200s|access-date=25 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1972.158