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Carving: O.25-1938

An image of Carving

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Object information

Current Location: Gallery 28 - Arts of Asia Gallery

Maker(s)

Maker: Unknown

Entities

Categories

Description

Soapstone, carved as a seated bu dai, with A calico bag. The monk is supposed to have been the last incarnation of Maitreya and to have died in 917. He is usually represented seated with a large bare stomach, playing with children, and with a bag containing his belongings and food. He is reported to have slept in the open air and to have indicated coming changes of weather by changing his shoes

Notes

History note: Unknown before testator

Legal notes

C.E. Byas Bequest

Measurements and weight

Width: 12 cm

Acquisition and important dates

Method of acquisition: Bequeathed (1938) by Byas, Cecil E.

Dating

17th Century, Late
18th Century
1650 CE - 1800 CE

Components of the work

Including Base Height 9.2 cm

Materials used in production

Soapstone

References and bibliographic entries

Identification numbers

Accession number: O.25-1938
Primary reference Number: 138334
Stable URI

Audit data

Created: Saturday 6 August 2011 Updated: Monday 4 August 2025 Last processed: Monday 4 August 2025

Associated departments & institutions

Owner or interested party: The Fitzwilliam Museum
Associated department: Applied Arts

Citation for print

This record can be cited in the Harvard Bibliographic style using the text below:

The Fitzwilliam Museum (2025) "Carving" Web page available at: https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/id/object/138334 Accessed: 2025-12-05 19:09:31

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{{cite web|url=https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/id/object/138334 |title=Carving |author=The Fitzwilliam Museum|accessdate=2025-12-05 19:09:31|publisher=The University of Cambridge}}

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        <figcaption class="figure-caption text-info">Carving</figcaption>
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