Flying Celestial Figure

Period:: Khotan Kingdom

Date:: 6th–7th century

Culture:: China (Xinjiang Autonomous Region)

Medium:: Stucco with color

Dimensions:: 5 1/2 x 4 in. (14 x 10.2 cm)

Classification:: Sculpture

Credit Line:: Rogers Fund, 1930

Accession Number:: 30.32.15

Not on view

These winged celestial beings show remarkable connections to the Western classical tradition. From comparable examples we know that these male figures were represented as flying down from the heavens to attend a Buddhist divinity.

Site of Dandan-Uiliq

[ Emil Trinkler , Bremen, Germany, excavated or purchased in Tibet or Turkestan during 1927–1928 Trinkler expedition; sold to Kleijkamp by 1930]; [ Jan Kleijkamp , New York, by 1930, sold to MMA]

New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Buddhism Along the Silk Road," June 2, 2012–February 10, 2013.

Timelines
Central and North Asia, 500–1000 A.D.
China, 500–1000 A.D.

Department

Asian Art (35,507)

Object Type / Material

Geographic Location