Guanyin in the Princeton University Art Museum, September 2012

Ming dynasty, Hongzhi reign period, 1368–1644

Chinese

Qiao Bin 喬彬 (the younger), active ca. 1500


Guanyin, 1500

Stoneware with sancai glaze

h. 68.5 cm., w. 45.5 cm., d. 25.0 cm. (26 15/16 x 17 15/16 x 9 13/16 in.)

Museum purchase, in memory of Frederick W. Mote, through the Fowler McCormick, Class of 1921, Fund

2005-63


Handbook Entry:

Bejeweled and brightly colored in the green, amber, and black glazes of the sancai, or "tri-color," palette, the figure embodies the brilliance, sanctity, and compassion that characterize the bodhisattva Guanyin. The face, chest, hands, and exposed foot are covered with a transparent glaze. An inscription in thirty-four characters is carved on the back of the pedestal, while a guardian lion couches at its base. Sancai glazing, first developed and used in architectural ceramics such as roof and ridge tiles in the Northern Wei period (386–535), is best exemplified by the funerary figures and vessels made in the Tang dynasty (618–907) and is found in some of the finest Liao-dynasty (907–1125) Buddhist sculptures. The Ming dynasty’s relatively long period of social stability and thriving economy created a boom in architectural building; palaces, worship halls, temples, and shrines were constructed, often lavishly decorated and furnished with sculptures made of wood, lacquer, and ceramic. Sometime in the middle of the Ming period, it became popular for private individuals to commission large ceramic sculptures, often in sets, for Buddhist and Daoist temples and shrines.
This Guanyin figure may be one of the finest surviving examples of Ming-dynasty sancai ceramic sculpture. It is particularly important because the inscription names both the individual donor and the artisan Qiao Bin, and provides the location where the sculpture was made: Yangcheng county in present-day Shanxi province.

Signatures and Inscriptions: inscribed: 楊城縣南石里施主南張儀施 弘治十三年 本堂善人劉普明廉方 本縣東関匠人喬彬 Donated by the benefactor Nan Zhangyi of Nanshi village, Yangcheng county, in the thirteenth year of the Hongzhi reign period (1500). [With] Liu Puming and Lian Fang, virtuous men of this hall. [Made by] Qiao Bin, an artisan of the Eastern Gate in this county.

Gallery Label:

Guanyin is the Chinese reading of Avalokitesvara, the most popular Buddhist deity in East Asia. A bodhisattva, or enlightened being, is one who has chosen to forgo entering nirvana, the state of being free from suffering, and remains in the mundane world to help others attain salvation.
As Buddhism began to attract more believers in China, Guanyin and its visual representation underwent significant transformations. Indian and Chinese attributes appear together in this Guanyin: the sitting position derives from the Indian "royal ease" (rajalilasana) posture, whereas the lionlike beast (hou) on the base is a mythical Chinese animal that became associated with the deity during the Ming dynasty. Additionally, Guanyin’s hairstyle and accessories, the stylized rockery of the pedestal, and the armrest are derived from Chinese Buddhist iconography. The tri-color lead-glaze technique entered China through the Silk Road. The addition of copper (green), iron (brown), manganese, and cobalt (blue) to the base glaze created the polychrome


Text from: artmuseum.princeton.edu/collections/objects/47568