Explore key developments in the history and culture of China, from the arts and crafts of the Song Dynasty up to the present day.
This image is of Guanyin, or Avalokiteshvara, the bodhisattva who assists souls to achieve enlightenment. The bodhisattva was constructed in thirteen parts. It was fitted together using mortise and tenon joints, a technique also used in making furniture and buildings. In China, the construction and display of large sculpture both relate closely to architecture. This figure would have occupied a central position towards the rear of a temple hall.
Piper, David, and Christopher White, Treasures of the Ashmolean Museum: An Illustrated Souvenir of the Collections, revised edn (Oxford: Ashmolean Museum, 1995), no. 33 on p. 36, illus. p. 37 fig. 33
Objects are sometimes moved to a different location. Our object location data is usually updated on a monthly basis. Contact the Jameel Study Centre if you are planning to visit the museum to see a particular object on display, or would like to arrange an appointment to see an object in our reserve collections.
Objects may have since been removed or replaced from a gallery. Click into an individual object record to confirm whether or not an object is currently on display. Our object location data is usually updated on a monthly basis, so contact the Jameel Study Centre if you are planning to visit the museum to see a particular Eastern Art object.
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