This
rare and important sculpture represents a Buddhist bodhisattva, or
bosatsu, an enlightened and compassionate being who postponed Buddhahood
in order to help save others. Calm, stately, and full-bodied, the
bosatsu is seated in a frontal, meditative pose; his gracefully held
hands, raised midair, make a gesture of assurance. Buddhism, which
originated in India with the teachings of the Buddha Sakyamuni, or
Siddhartha Gautama (c. 563-c. 483 B.C.), was named the official religion
of Japan at the beginning of the eighth century by the Emperor Shomu
(701-56). This small, finely crafted lacquer figure is the only Buddhist
sculpture outside Japan that is firmly attributed to the influential
sculpture workshop of Todai-ji, the largest and most prestigious of the
great state-sponsored Buddhist temples built during the Nara period.
This sculpture represents a dramatic shift in Japanese sculptural
tradition—a move away from the expensive, time-consuming technique of
using lacquer (a resin extracted from the sap of a tree) over a
temporary clay core that, once removed, left a sculpture that was
completely hollow except for perhaps a wood bracing system. Here a
sculpted wood core is overlaid with lacquer-soaked cloth. The innovative
sculptors at the Nara temple modeled the wet and pliable surface of the
cloth to create fine details such as facial features and jewelry.
Finally the sculpture was gilt; traces of gold remain on the
bodhisattva’s face and chest.
Kate S. Buckingham Endowment
Size: 61 × 43.2 × 32.3 cm (24 × 17 × 12 ¾ in.)
Medium: Wood core, dry lacquer, traces of gold leaf
