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HARVARD UNIVERSITY ART MUSEUMS ACQUIRE THE WALTER C. SEDGWICK

COLLECTIONS OF JAPANESE BUDDHIST SCULPTURE AND EARLY CHINESE

CERAMICS

Statue of Prince Shotoku is Regarded as the Most Important Japanese Buddhist Sculpture in

the United States; Collection of Chinese Ceramics is the Most Comprehensive of its Kind in

the West

“A number of experiences have led to my interest in enhancing the Harvard University Art

Museums collection of Asian art through the gift of my collection,” said Walter C. Sedgwick.

“Professor John Rosenfield, the noted art historian and a mentor during my undergraduate days

at Harvard, had a great influence on me, as well as an enormous impact on the understanding of

Asian art in the United States. Equally as rewarding has been my ongoing collaboration with the

Harvard University Art Museums and curator Robert Mowry. Bob has been accessible,

CAMBRIDGE, MA (October 13, 2006)—The Harvard

University Art Museums today announced a major acquisition of

Asian works of art through the generosity of Walter C. Sedgwick

and the Walter C. Sedgwick Foundation. Three Japanese

Buddhist sculptures and more than three hundred early Chinese

ceramics, previously on loan to the Art Museums, will enter the

permanent collection of the Arthur M. Sackler Museum’s

Department of Asian Art. The works are exceptional in their

beauty, historical significance, and cultural value, and will make

a vital contribution to the Art Museums’ mission of teaching and

research. These unique qualities and the objects’ early dates of

creation make these works among the most important to enter

Harvard’s Asian art collections, as well as some of the most

significant to enter the general holdings of the Art Museums, in

many decades.

Prince Shotoku at Age Two, c. 1292.

Japanese cypress wood with poly-

chromy and rock-crystal-inlaid eyes,

67.9 x 24.8 cm. Arthur M. Sackler

Museum, Promised gift of Walter C.

Sedgwick in memory of Ellery

Sedgwick Sr. and Ellery Sedgwick Jr.

Harvard College.