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Seated Maitreya Buddha

CultureChinese
Dateca. 725 C.E.
MediumCoarse sandstone with traces of original coloring
DimensionsOverall: 20 × 12 × 8 1/2 inches (50.8 × 30.48 × 21.59 cm)
Credit LinePurchase: William Rockhill Nelson Trust
Object number32-65/2
On View
On view
Gallery Location
  • 204
Collections
DescriptionA headless figure, seated on a stone bench, with both legs pendant. The right hand is raised in abhaya mudra, the left is resting palm-down on the left knee. Wears a flowing robe, with the right shoulder left bare; draped in ridged folds, covering the figure as well as the bench.Exhibition History

The Ideal Image: The Gupta Sculptural Tradition and Its Influence, Asia House Gallery, New York, October 5-December 3, 1978; Kimbell Art Museum, January 11-February 25, 1979; The Art Institute of Chicago, March 24-May 6, 1979. no. 95.

Provenance

Cave Four, Tianlongshan, Shanxi Province, China

Yamanaka & Co., New York,

Purchased from Yamanaka & Co. by The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, 1932.

Published References

The William Rockhill Nelson Gallery of Art and Mary Atkins Museum of Fine Arts, Handbook of the William Rockhill Nelson Gallery of Art (Kansas City, MO: William Rockhill Nelson Gallery of Art and Mary Atkins Museum of Fine Arts, 1933), 96 (repro.).

The William Rockhill Nelson Gallery of Art and Mary Atkins Museum of Fine Arts, The William Rockhill Nelson Collection, 2nd ed. (Kansas City, MO: William Rockhill Nelson Gallery of Art and Mary Atkins Museum of Fine Arts, 1941), 110 (repro.).

Ross E. Taggart, George L. McKenna, and Marc F. Wilson, eds., Handbook of the Collections in The William Rockhill Nelson Gallery of Art and Mary Atkins Museum of Fine Arts, Kansas City, Missouri, vol. II, Art of the Orient. (Kansas City, MO: William Rockhill Nelson Gallery of Art and Mary Atkins Museum of Fine Arts, 1973), p. 38 (repro.).

Pratapaditya Pal, The Ideal Image: the Gupta Sculptural Tradition and Influence (New York: Asia Society, 1978), p.139, no. 95 (repro.).

Roger Ward and Patricia J. Fidler, eds., The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art: A Handbook of the Collection (New York: Hudson Hills Press, in association with Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, 1993), p.309 (repro.).

Deborah Emont Scott, ed., The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art: A Handbook of the Collection, 7th ed. (Kansas City, MO: Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, 2008), p. 325, fig. 127 (repro.).
Information about a particular artwork or image, including provenance information, is based upon historic information and may not be currently accurate or complete. Research on artwork and images is an ongoing process, and the information about a particular artwork or image may not reflect the most current information available to the Museum. If you notice a mistake or have additional information about a particular artwork or image, please e-mail provenance@nelson-atkins.org.


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