Pilgrim Shancai Tongzi (?)

The figure most likely depicts the young pilgrim Shancai Tongzi, worshipping Avalokiteshvara, the personification of compassion, who in China is worshipped as Guanyin – the goddess of mercy. Shancai Tongzi travelled through the south and east of Asia, desiring to learn from scholars and celestial bodhisattvas he met how to attain enlightenment. It is believed that the figure was made in the late period of the Ming dynasty, and is dated to the first half of the 17th century. The building, acquired before 1945, was most likely the property of a former German gallery. After World War II, it was acquired by the National Museum in Szczecin as a remnant of the old German collections.

In 1987, due to its poor condition, the sculpture underwent conservation. Half of the left foot and a fragment of the right foot were reconstructed, a base was built, wood defects were filled, the loosened painting layers were repaired and retouched. During the conservation, a compartment located on the back of the figure was discovered that contained multiple well-preserved items: a wooden rod with written text (most likely a consecration text) with silver bells in the shape of a lotus flower, two spirally coiled wires with sharpened ends facing upwards, a felt and a metal disc. In addition, there were also two silk bags filled with plant contents, small handicrafts, and ornaments. All the elements taken out of the interior of the figure were connected together in such a way that they resembled a human heart equipped with pumps, arteries and veins.

Katarzyna Findlik-Gawron