id:			127952
accession number:	1950.581
share license status:	CC0
url:			https://clevelandart.org/art/1950.581
updated:		2020-12-10 10:00:16.681000

Processional Mask of a Bodhisattva, late 1100s. Japan, Heian period (794–1185). Wood, lacquered and painted; overall: 22 x 16 cm (8 11/16 x 6 5/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, John L. Severance Fund 1950.581

title:				Processional Mask of a Bodhisattva
title in original language:	行道面・菩薩
series:				
series in original language:	
creation date:			late 1100s
creation date earliest:		1150
creation date latest:		1199
current location:		
creditline:			John L. Severance Fund
copyright:			

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culture:	Japan, Heian period (794–1185)
technique:	wood, lacquered and painted
department:	Japanese Art
collection:	Japanese Art
type:		Sculpture
find spot:	
catalogue raisonne: 

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CREATORS

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measurements: Overall: 22 x 16 cm (8 11/16 x 6 5/16 in.)
state of the work:	
edition of the work: 	

support materials:


inscriptions:

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CURRENT EXHIBITIONS

	title:		35th Anniversary Exhibition
	opening date:   1951-06-20T04:00:00
	<i>35th Anniversary Exhibition</i>. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 20-September 30, 1951).

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LEGACY EXHIBITIONS

* <em>Japanese Arts of the Heian Period: 794-1185</em>. 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).

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

* <em>Main Asian Rotation (Gallery 237)</em>. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (April 10, 2013-November 17, 2015).

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PROVENANCE

	(Hollis & Company, Cleveland, OH, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)
	date: ?-1950
	footnotes: 	
	citations: 	


	The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
	date: 1950-
	footnotes: 	
	citations: 	


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fun fact: 
The most famous welcoming descent procession happens each year on April 14 at the temple Taimadera in Nara.

digital description: 
This ceremonial mask was used in a dramatic enactment of the descent of the Buddha Amida and his entourage to welcome the dying to his Pure Land. The mask represents the face of an enlightened being called a bodhisattva. Performances of the welcoming descent had begun by the early 11th century and continue at some temples today.

wall description: 
This ceremonial mask was used in the religious processions that were particularly popular in the Heian period (794– 1185). In this performance about the Western Paradise, the final resting place of souls in Pure Land Buddhism [n.b. not a final resting place, sv 3/26/2020] 25 actors wearing bodhisattva masks would join an actor portraying the Amida, the Buddha of the Western Paradise. This performance, accompanied by the vigorous drumming [sic. "the vigorous"], offered a vision of the glory of Amida's paradise for devotees.
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RELATED WORKS

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CITATIONS

	Milliken, William M. “Important Acquisitions of Japanese Art.” <em>The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art</em>, vol. 38, no. 9, 1951, pp. 211–217.
	page number: 	Mentioned: pp. 212, 217; Reproduced: [no page number, after p. 212]
	url:		https://www.jstor.org/stable/25141741

	The Cleveland Museum of Art. <em>The Cleveland Museum of Art Handbook.</em> Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1958.
	page number: 	Mentioned and Reproduced: cat. no. 905
	url:		https://archive.org/details/CMAHandbook1958/page/n159

	The Cleveland Museum of Art. <em>Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1966</em>. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1966.
	page number: 	Reproduced: p. 274
	url:		https://archive.org/details/CMAHandbook1966/page/n298

	Rosenfield, John M. <em>Japanese Arts of the Heian Period, 794-1185</em>. [New York]: Asia Society, 1967.
	page number: 	Reproduced: pp. 77 and 118, cat. no. 33
	url:		

	The Cleveland Museum of Art. <em>Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1969</em>. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1969.
	page number: 	Reproduced: p. 274
	url:		https://archive.org/details/CMAHandbook1969/page/n298

	The Cleveland Museum of Art. <em>Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978</em>. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978.
	page number: 	Reproduced: p. 370
	url:		https://archive.org/details/CMAHandbook1978/page/n390

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IMAGES

web:	https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1950.581/1950.581_web.jpg
print:	https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1950.581/1950.581_print.jpg
full:	https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1950.581/1950.581_full.tif