Porcelain figures of the bodhisattva Guanyin and child have been made for hundreds of years for Buddhist devotion in China and Japan. This 18th-century example has a hidden story of subversion and dissent.
In the 1700s some manufacturers added Christian imagery to these statues in the form of a mantilla – a Christian head-covering. Christianity was forbidden in Japan from 1587–1859, so sculptures like this, made for European export markets, also allowed ‘hidden’ Christians to worship in secret in Japan.
Our new free display examines perceptions of Europe through a series of objects from Japan, China and South Asia, illustrating how encounters between Asia and Europe are often far more nuanced than has been previously presented. Find out more: http://ow.ly/8rYY30lwtxN
The Asahi Shimbun Display ‘What is Europe? Views from Asia’ is supported by the Asahi Shimbun.
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