Context (Auction / Sale)
Purchased by John Williams in 1862
Event Date 1862
Author: maa

Context (Acquisition Details)
Given to MAA by Rev. John F. Williams and purchased by his grandfather, John Williams, from a dealer, who had acquired it about a year earlier from the sale of non-military material from the Royal United Services Institution Museum. When Mr Williams acquired it in 1862, the votive deposit was intact.
Event Date 1960
Author: rachel hand

Context (Related Documents)
Card Catalogue reads:

'60.400 ASIA, CHINA
Wooden figure, gilt lacquered, of KWAN-YIN, goddess of mercy, one of the deities of Chinese Buddhism (added in blue ink at a later date); a bodhisattva - originally Avalokitesvara. (See Getty 'Gods of N. Buddhism', P.71.)

The figure is seated with crossed legs, & has twelve arms. Two pairs are in the mudra of prayer & of meditation; the other four pairs raised above the head and hold various Buddhist symbols. The figure wears the five-leafed crown. Height 23 ins.

[Reverse of Card]
Ming: early 17th Century AD. The body of the figure is hollow & the votive deposit found in this hole can be dated to 1634 (See 60.401-422).

Bought by the donor's grandfather, John Williams, from a dealer, who had acquired it about a year earlier from the sale of non-military material from the Royal United Services Institution Museum. When Mr Williams acquired it in 1862, the votive deposit was intact. See his papers on the subject, now deposited in the hollow of the figure.

[Black and white photograph of Guanyin attached to the Catalogue Card]

d.d. The Rev. J.F. Williams.'
Event Date 1960
Author: ashleigh griffin

Description (Physical description)
Catalogue card notes: Wooden figure of Kwan Yin, Goddess of Mercy, decorated with gilt lacquer. The figure is seated with crossed legs, and has twelve arms. Two pairs are in the "mudra" of prayer and of meditation. The remaining four pairs are raised above the head and hold various Buddhist symbols. The figure wears the five leafed crown. The body is hollow, and the votive deposit found in this hole can be dated to 1634 (Ming Dynasty).
Event Date 1960
Author: maa

Loan (Exhibition)
The Manchester Museum, 29/11/2013 to 16/03/2014, Coral: Something Rich and Strange
Event Date 29/11/2013
Author: rachel hand

Context (Display)
Exhibited: On loan to Manchester Museum, for the exhibition 'Coral in Nature and Culture', 29 November 2013- 16 March 2014. Returned 20th March.
Event Date 17/1/2014
Author: Rachel Hand

Context (Display)
Exhibited: On display in the Maudslay Hall, CUMAA, under the Samurai armour from 1990- March 2012
Event Date 3/2014
Author: ashleigh griffin

Context (Display)
Exhibited: On display in 'Buddha's Word: The Life of Books in Tibet and Beyond' from 28th May 2014 - 17th January 2015. Labelled as '1. Statue of Guanyin and part of its votive deposit / This is the Chinese version of the Bodhisattva / Avalokiteshvara. In the Chinese tradition, Guanyin lost / its masculine features, becoming androgynous (as here) / and in many instances female. The statue appears / to have been made in several stages, with some of / the arms perhaps added at a later date. It is possible / that it was consecrated more than once. The goddess / or Bodhisattva here holds in her hands attributes of / learning including the stylus or pen and the book. / China. 1634 / Donated by Reverend John F. Williams, 1959. / 1960.400'.
Event Date 20/3/2015
Author: Eleanor Wilkinson

Conservation ()
CON.2013.82 |
Event Date 1/3/2016
Author: maa

Context (Related Documents)
See also numbers 1960.401-22: votive deposits found inside the figure. Williams' papers on the subject were also deposited inside the figure;
Event Date 8/11/2019
Author: ashleigh griffin

Loan (Exhibition)
Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, 11/05/2020 to 26/10/2020, The Human Touch: Making Art, Leaving Traces
Event Date 11/5/2020
Author: Katrina Dring

Description (Physical description)
Figure of Kwan Yin [Guanyin] (1960.400.1) with detachable gilded, wooden sceptre held in the figure's up-stretched hand, third on left, (1960.400.2), and a small gilded, wooden tablet, presumably once held in the pair of raised hands above the head (1960.400.3). The mount on the rear of the tablet is broken and it no longer sits securely in these hands.
Event Date 7/9/2021
Author: rachel hand