The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of April 18, 2024

The Immortal Li Tieguai

The Immortal Li Tieguai

1500s
(Chinese)
China, Ming dynasty (1368–1644)
bronze
Overall: 41.8 cm (16 7/16 in.)
Cornelia Blakemore Warner Fund 1973.158
Location: not on view

Description

This bronze statue of Li Tieguai shows him dressed as a beggar in a tattered robe, holding a crutch in his right and a ball of medicine in his left hand. Li Tieguai is the patron saint for physicians and legend says that he dispenses pills from the gourd for the sick. He wears a belt of leaves and another gourd hangs from his waist. His head is crowned with what appears to be a metal ring, signifying his immortal status. Four incised characters in seal script on the back of the figure reads “made by Su Wennan (蘇文南製).”
  • ?–1973
    (Bluett & Sons, London, UK, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)
    1973–
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • "The Year in Review for 1973." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 61, no. 2 (1974): 31-78. Mentioned: no. 178, p. 78; Reproduced: no. 178, p. 66 www.jstor.org
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978. Reproduced: p. 355 archive.org
    Arts of China: From the Cleveland Museum of Art. Mansfield, OH: Mansfield Art Center, 1983. Mentioned and Reproduced: cat. no. 53
    Little, Stephen. Realm of the Immortals: Daoism in the Arts of China: the Cleveland Museum of Art, February 10-April 10, 1988. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art in cooperation with Indiana University Press, 1988. Mentioned and Reproduced: cat. no. 14, p. 42
  • Escaping to a Better World: Eccentrics and Immortals in Chinese Art (Chinese art rotation). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (May 13-November 6, 2022).
    Realm of the Immortals: Daoism in the Arts of China. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 10-April 10, 1988).
    Arts of China: From the Cleveland Museum of Art. Mansfield Art Center, Mansfield, OH (March 8-May 8, 1983).
  • {{cite web|title=The Immortal Li Tieguai|url=false|author=Su Wennan|year=1500s|access-date=18 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1973.158