The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 18, 2025

Rectangular, dark-blue textile hanging with, in the upper half, a person with red skin sitting facing us, cross-legged in blue and pink trousers, head tilted slightly. They are flanked by columns topped with makara, sea creatures whose tails transform into lotus flowers in an arch over the central person. Floral scrolls wind in the lower half with each section surrounded by red outlined borders with winding gold stitching within.

Thangka with the Seventh Bodhisattva

1368–1424

China, Ming dynasty

(1368–1644)
Silk and gold thread on silk satin ground, embroidery
Overall: 43.8 x 19.5 cm (17 1/4 x 7 11/16 in.); Mounted: 56.8 x 31.8 cm (22 3/8 x 12 1/2 in.)
Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund 1991.2
Location: Not on view

Did You Know?

The bodhisattva is flanked by two columns, each topped with a makara, a fanciful water creature whose tail becomes lotus scrolls forming an arch over the bodhisattva.

Description

In remarkably pristine condition, this embroidery is from a dispersed set that included images of protectors and bodhisattvas. The embroidery technique and pictorial style are Chinese, but the subject matter and the type of devotional hanging called a thangka are associated with Tibetan Buddhism. Historical records state that during the early Ming dynasty (1368–1644), gifts of Buddhist art were sent from China to Tibet, since relationships between Chinese rulers and Tibetan monastic patriarchs were strong and amicable during this time. A Tibetan inscription on the back notes that this figure is the “seventh bodhisattva,” indicating the position in which it would have hung in a temple hall. Odd-numbered works were hung on one side of the main image, and even-numbered works on the other, counting from the center.
  • ?–1991
    (Spink & Son, Ltd., London, England, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)
    1991–
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Turner, Evan H. "Selected 1991 Acquisitions." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 79, no. 2 (1992): 63-83. Reproduced: p. 67; Mentioned: p. 83 www.jstor.org
    Wilson, J. Keith, and Anne E. Wardwell. "New Objects/New Insights: Cleveland's Recent Chinese Acquisitions." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 81, no. 8 (1994): 270-347. Reproduced: 343; Mentioned: p. 342-345, 347 www.jstor.org
    Watt, James C. Y., Anne E. Wardwell, and Morris Rossabi. When silk was gold: Central Asian and Chinese textiles. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art in cooperation with the Cleveland Museum of Art, 1997. Mentioned: cat. no. 63, pp. 207–209; Reproduced: p. 208
    Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland Art: The Cleveland Museum of Art Members Magazine. Vol. 37 no. 09, November 1997 Mentioned & reproduced: p. 2 archive.org
    Cunningham, Michael R., Stanislaw J. Czuma, Anne E. Wardwell, and J. Keith Wilson. Masterworks of Asian Art. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1998. Mentioned and Reproduced: pp. 80–81
  • Himalayan Gallery 237 Rotation – November 2016-April 2017. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (November 7, 2016-April 10, 2017).
    When Silk Was Gold: Central Asian & Chinese Textiles from the Cleveland and Metropolitan Museums of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (October 26, 1997-January 4, 1998); The Metropolitan Museum of Art (organizer) (March 2-May 17, 1998).
    Asian Autumn: New Objects/New Insights: Cleveland's Recent Chinese Acquisitions. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (October 18-December 31, 1994).
    Selected 1991 Acquisitions. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (January 28-April 26, 1992).
  • {{cite web|title=Thangka with the Seventh Bodhisattva|url=false|author=|year=1368–1424|access-date=18 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1991.2