Statue - C96 | Collections

This object is On Display

Object Number:	C96
Current Location:	Asia Galleries Currently On Display
Culture:	Chinese Buddhist
Provenience:	China
Period:	Tang Dynasty
Date Made:	Tang Dynasty
Early Date:	618
Late Date:	906
Section:	Asian
Materials:	Marble (Stone) Pigment Gilding
Technique:	Painted Gilded Carved
Iconography:	Wenshu Manjusri Lion
Height:	69 cm
Credit Line:	Purchased from C. T. Loo, 1915
Other Number:	Getz 15 - Other Number

Description

Wenshu (Manjusri in Sanskirt) is the bodhisattva of wisdom. He often rides a lion, as he does here. Other attributes include him holding the Prajnaparamita sutra, the book of Perfect Knowledge, in his left hand, and a sword in his right with a flaming point used to drive away darkness and ignorance. Chinese followers believed Mount Wutai in Shanxi province was Wenshu's abode, making it a place of Buddhist pilgrimage. Wenshu is often paried with Puxian (Samantabhadra in Sanskrit) who rides an elephant. The statue is made of marble with traces of pigment and gilding.

Current & Past Exhibitions:

China Gallery (22 Feb 2017)	View Objects in Exhibition
Chinese Halls (1941 - 1966)	View Objects in Exhibition
Chinese Rotunda (1968 - 22 Feb 2017)	View Objects in Exhibition
Exhibition of Oriental Art (12 Feb 1916)	View Objects in Exhibition

Bibliography:

[Article] Jayne, Horace H. 1941. "The Chinese Collections of The University Museum: A Handbook of the Principal Objects". The University Museum Bulletin. Philadelphia. The University Museum. Vol. 9. no. 2-3. pg. 9-50 Actual Citation : Page/Fig./Plate: p. 60	View Objects related to this Actual Citation
[Article] 1930. "An Example of T'ang Sculpture". The University Museum Bulletin. Philadelphia. The University Museum. Vol. 1. no. 3. pg. 19-23 Actual Citation : Page/Fig./Plate: 7-50	View Objects related to this Actual Citation
[Book] Siren, Osvald. 1925. Chinese sculpture from the fifth to the fourteenth century; over 900 specimens in stone, bronze, lacquer and wood, principally from northern China.. London. E. Benn, Ltd. Actual Citation : Page/Fig./Plate: pg. 136, Plate 502	View Objects related to this Actual Citation
[Catalogue] Getz, John. 1916. The University Museum Exhibition of Oriental Art.. Philadelphia. The University Museum. Actual Citation : Page/Fig./Plate: 183 no.15	View Objects related to this Actual Citation

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