Maitreya, 520

  • Chinese

Gilt bronze

  • Overall: 17 3/4 × 6 1/2 × 6 inches (45.1 × 16.5 × 15.2 cm)

Museum Purchase, with funds from Mr. and Mrs. Edsel B. Ford

30.303

Maitreya is considered the successor to the founder of the Buddhist faith. When Maitreya comes in the future, he will bring universal salvation and happiness. Until that time, Buddhists believe that they are reborn after death in accordance with their deeds in life. This altarpiece is one of the largest and finest surviving examples of Maitreya. The slender form is decoratively enrobed in elongated triangular folds suggesting the mysteries of a higher realm.

Inscribed, on back of base: In the first year of Jeng Kuang, the tenth month, the twenty seventh day, I, Fu Lin-du, on behalf of the parents of seven generations, for the family now living, and for all infinite creation, revently cast this image of Maitreya, and offer in sacrifice incense and flowers, hoping that the entirety of living creatures passing through Maitreys's three stages of transformation will quickly become Buddhas.

formerly in the collection of Dr. Friederich Sarre [1865 - 1945] (Berlin, Germany). 1929, (Edgar Worch [1880 - 1972] Berlin, Germany)

1930-present, Detroit Institute of Arts (Detroit, Michigan, USA), purchased with funds from Edsel B. Ford [1893-1943] and Eleanor Ford [1896-1976]

Bulletin of the DIA 12, no. 2 (1930): p. 14. Visser, H. Exhibition of Chinese Art. Amsterdam, 1925; The Hague, 1926, pl. 26-27. Exhibition of Chinese Art. Cat., Preussische Akadamie der Kunst. Berlin, 1929, no. 248. Loan Exhibition of Chinese Art. Exh. cat., DIA. Detroit, November 19-December 12, 1929, no. 66. Cohn, W. "Maitreya," Kunst und Kunstler XXI. ff 69. Glaser, C. Ostasiatische Plastik. Berlin, 1925, (fig. 29-31). Salmony, Alfred. Exhibition of Chinese Art. Exh. cat., Mills College. California, October-December 1934, no. 200. Buddhist Art. Exh. cat., DIA. Detroit, October 1942, no. 46. Chinese Buddhist Bronzes. Exh. cat., University of Michigan Museum of Art. Ann Arbor, April-May 1950, no. 20. Chinese Bronzes in American Collections. Exh. cat., Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 1938, no. 362. Treasures of Chinese Art. Exh. cat., J. B. Speed Art Museum. Louisville, January 18-February 21, 1965, no. 10 (ill.). DIA Handbook. 1971, p. 45. University Liggett Antiques Show. Exh. cat., University Liggett School. Grosse Pointe Woods, June 13-16, 1979, pp. 74, 76. "Family Art Game," Detroit News (April 10, 1983): p. 24 (ill.) [DIA Advertising Supplement].

Chinese, Maitreya, 520, gilt bronze. Detroit Institute of Arts, Museum Purchase, with funds from Mr. and Mrs. Edsel B. Ford, 30.303.