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Apr 1, 2009

Sun Bodhisattva (Nikkō Bosatsu)

日光菩薩像

c. 800

Japan, Heian period

(794–1185)

Japanese nutmeg-yew wood with traces of color and gold

Overall: 46.7 cm (18 3/8 in.)

John L. Severance Fund 1961.48

Location

235B Japanese

Did you know?

Japanese nutmeg-yew, or kaya, was used as a replacement for the unobtainable sandalwood of which small Buddhist sculptures imported from China were made.

Description

Bodhisattvas are beings who have attained enlightenment but delay entry into Buddhahood until they have fulfilled their varied vows to aid others along the path to enlightenment. The flowing robes and curving posture of this figure were inspired by Chinese Buddhist sculpture. However, the interplay of the wood grain in this single block of yew with the artist’s subtle carving is a Japanese innovation. Originally paired with the Moon Bodhisattva (Gekkō Bosatsu), this figure likely flanked a sculpture of the Medicine Master Buddha (Yakushi Nyorai).

Provenance

?-1961

(Setsu Inosuke 濑津伊之助 [1897-1969], Tokyo, Japan, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)

1961-

The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH

Citations

Lee, Sherman E. “Year in Review 1961.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art, vol. 48, no. 9, 1961, pp. 219–251. Mentioned; no. 42, p. 249 www.jstor.org

Lee, Sherman E. “Nikkō, the Sun Bodhisattva.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art, vol. 48, no. 10, 1961, pp. 259–265. Mentioned: p. 259–265; Reproduced: figs. 1-3 www.jstor.org

“Oriental Art Recently Acquired by American Museums.” Archives of the Chinese Art Society of America, vol. 16, 1962, pp. 104–124. Reproduced: p, 106, fig. 8 www.jstor.org

The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1966. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1966. Reproduced: p. 274 archive.org

The Human Adventure IV, grade 6, vol. I. Cleveland: Educational Research Council of Greater Cleveland, 1966-1967. Reproduced: p. 237

Mayuyama, Junkichi 繭山順吉. Japanese Art in the West. [Tokyo]: Mayuyama & Co, 1966. Mentioned: p. 342; Reproduced: p. 16, pl. 17

Selected Works: Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1967. no. 70

Rosenfield, John M. Japanese Arts of the Heian Period, 794-1185. New York, NY: Asia Society, 1967. Reproduced: pl. 11

Oriental Art, vol. 13, no. 4 (Winter 1967). Reproduced: p. 244

Brozostoski, John. "Art in the Serene Capital of No." Arts Magazine (Sept.-Oct. 1967). Reproduced: p. 38

Rosenfield, John M. Japanese Arts of the Heian Period, 794-1185. [New York]: Asia Society, 1967. Reproduced: pp. 8 and 112, cat. no. 11

The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1969. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1969. Reproduced: p. 274 archive.org

Praeger Encyclopedia of Art. London: Pall Mall Press, Ltd., 1971. Reproduced: vol. 3, p. 1053

The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978. Reproduced: p. 369 archive.org

Yamane, Yūzō 山根有三, Shūjirō Shimada 島田修二郎, and Terukazu Akiyama 秋山光和. Zaigai Nihon no shihō [在外日本の至宝 = Japanese Art: Selections from Western Collections, vol. 8 ]. Tōkyō: Mainichi Shinbunsha, 1979. Mentioned: no. 17, p. 123; Reproduced: color plate 17

Moore, Janet Gaylord. The Eastern Gate: An Invitation to the Arts of China and Japan. Cleveland, OH: Collins, 1979. Reproduced: pp. 177 and 179

Zenzo Shimizu 清水善三. "Japanese Sculptures in America and Canada," Ars Buddhica 佛教藝術, no. 126 (September 1979), part I, pp. 67-88. Reproduced: fig. 6

Roukes, Nicholas. Masters of Wood Sculpture. New York: Watson-Guptill Publishers, 1980. Reproduced: p. 14

Lee, Sherman E., Michael R. Cunningham, and Ursula Korneitchouk. One Thousand Years of Japanese Art (650-1650): From the Cleveland Museum of Art: Catalogue. New York: Japan Society, 1981. Reproduced: cat. no. 1

"Asian Art in American Museums." Sculpture Review, XXXIII, no. 3 (Fall 1984). p. 22

Neils, Jenifer. “The Twain Shall Meet.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art, vol. 72, no. 6, 1985, pp. 326–359. Mentioned and Reproduced: p. 343, fig. 33 www.jstor.org

Yamane, Yūzō 山根有三, Takashi Hamada 山根有三, et al. Zaigai bijutsu [在外美術 = Selections of Japanese Art from Western Collections]. Tōkyō: Shōgakukan, 1994. Mentioned: pp. 213, 237, no. 120.

Liebson, Milt. Direct Wood Sculpture: Techniques, Innovation, Creativity. Atglen, PA: Schiffer Pub, 2001. p. 13

Grossman, Nancy, James T. Ulak, Marjorie Williams, and Laurence Channing. Art of Japan: Masterpieces from the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 2005. Mentioned and Reproduced: p. 20

Rosenfield, John M. "Sherman Lee: Early Encounters with Asian Art," Orientations, (Jan/Feb. 2005) vol. 36, no. 1, pp. 46-47. Reproduced: p. 46

Cleveland Museum of Art. The CMA Companion: A Guide to the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2014. Mentioned and reproduced: P. 21

Exhibition history

Japanese Arts of the Heian Period: 794-1185. Asia House Gallery, New York City, NY (October 5-December 17, 1967) and Fogg Art Museum, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA (January 17-February 25, 1968).

One Thousand Years of Japanese Art (650-1650) from The Cleveland Museum of Art. Japan House Gallery, New York, NY (March 19-May 17, 1981).

Year in Review (1961). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (November 1-26, 1961).

Japanese Arts of the Heian Period. The Asia Society Museum, New York, NY (organizer) (October 5, 1967-February 19, 1968); Fogg Art Museum/Harvard University, Cambridge, MA (January 17-February 25, 1968).

Traditions and Revisions: Themes from the History of Sculpture. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (September 24-November 16, 1975).

The Twain Shall Meet. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (October 30, 1985-January 5, 1986).

Object Lessons: Cleveland Creates an Art Museum. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 7-September 8, 1991).

Streams and Mountains Without End: Asian Art and the Legacy of Sherman E. Lee at the Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 27-August 23, 2009).

Rinpa (琳派) (Japanese gallery rotation) 235. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (April 23-October 3, 2021).

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{{cite web|title=Sun Bodhisattva (Nikkō Bosatsu)|url=https://clevelandart.org/art/1961.48|year=c. 800|access-date=02 November 2023|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

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Sun Bodhisattva (Nikkō Bosatsu)

Sun Bodhisattva (Nikkō Bosatsu)

日光菩薩像

Japan, Heian period

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