Gilt-lacquered wood figure of the Buddha

A wood figure of the Buddha seated with his legs folded, holding a covered vessel with both hands in his lap.  The Buddha’s body is draped in elaborately folded robes, tied at the waist with a knotted sash.  The robes fall open at the chest, revealing a small swastika symbol, emblematic of the Buddha’s heart.  The Buddha’s head is slightly inclined forward.  The face has a serene expression and symmetrical features; a sensuous mouth with painted moustache, and a broad nose.  The hooded eyelids almost cover the inset painted eyes and have arched eyebrows. The long pendulous earlobes are pierced. A small conical crystal inserted into the forehead between the eyebrows, indicates the third eye of spiritual vision.  The head is covered in tightly coiffed curls, and is crowned by a prominent cranial protuberance, and is inset with another crystal to the front.  The figure is covered in sheet gold and lacquer, with faint diaper patterns visible particularly on the back.  The inside of the figure is lacquered red.

•  Stylistically, this serene wood figure of the Buddha carries on the tradition of Japanese wood sculpture from earlier eras, such as the Kamakura and Muromachi periods, typical features of which are simple, folded clothing and a serene expression.  The use of crystal to denote the third eye of spiritual vision and the cranial bump are also seen in earlier periods. Japan saw a gradual decline in Buddhism in the late Muromachi period that carried on during the subsequent Momoyama and Edo periods, resulting in a parallel decline in Buddhist sculpture.  Many of the artists originally involved in sculpture shifted their interest to carving in much smaller formats, such as theatrical masks and netsuke.  The present image of the Buddha is proof of the fact that the tradition of Buddhist sculpture was not lost entirely.  It is similar in style and execution to an image of the Yakushi Buddha (Buddha of Healing) by the monk-sculptor Tankai (1629 – 1716), preserved in the Great Eastern Temple (Todai-Ji) in Nara.1   The drapery and pose of the present figure resemble those of a wood and gilt lacquered figure of Shotoku Taishiin in the Brundage collection at the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco.2   A kneeling figure of the bodhisattva Seishi-bosatu in the Museum of East Asian Art in Cologne has similar facial features.3  

1. Mino, Y. The Great Eastern Temple, Treasures of Japanese Buddhist Art from Todai-Ji, The Art Institute of Chicago, 1986, no. 26, pp. 104-5
2. Lefebvre d’Argencé, R-Y. Chinese, Korean and Japanese Sculpture in the Avery Brundage Collection,Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, 1974, no. 228, p. 428
3. Gabbert G. Buddhistische Plastik aus China und Japan, Museum für Ostasiatische Kunst der Stadt Köln, Wiesbaden 1972, no. 59, pp. 226-7