1931.9: Left Hand of a Colossal Amida Buddha

Identification and Creation

Object Number

1931.9

People

Attributed to Kaikei (active c. 1183-1236)

Title

Left Hand of a Colossal Amida Buddha

Classification

Sculpture

Work Type

sculpture

Date

first quarter 13th century

Places

Creation Place: East Asia, Japan

Period

Kamakura period, 1185-1333

Culture

Japanese

Persistent Link

https://hvrd.art/o/208836

Physical Descriptions

Medium

Wood with traces of lacquer, polychromy, and gilding

Dimensions

L. 66.7 cm (26 1/4 in.)

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History

Ex-Tamai Collection, Nara

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line

Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Gift of Charles Bain Hoyt

Accession Year

1931

Object Number

1931.9

Division

Asian and Mediterranean Art

Contact

am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu

Permissions

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Descriptions

Description

From the central deity of an Amida triad originally installed at Shin-Daibutsu-ji Temple in Iga, Mie Prefecture.

Publication History

• Iwata Shigeki, "A Wooden Buddha Hand in the Collection of Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Harvard University: On its Probable Provenance from the Main Worship Figure of Shin-Daibutsu-ji Temple in Iga", MUSEUM, Tokyo National Museum (Tokyo, Japan, February 2004), No. 588, color plates 1-2 and p.7, figs. 1-4
• Priest Chōgen and the Rebuilding of Tōdaiji: the Kamakura Era, an Age of Artistic Revival and Innovation (Daikanjin Chōgen: Tōdaiji no Kamakura fukkō to arata na bi no sōshutsu), exh. cat., Nara National Museum (Nara, Japan, 2006), cat. no. 105
• Francesca Herndon-Consagra, Reflections of the Buddha, exh. cat., Pulitzer Arts Foundation (St. Louis, MO, 2011-2012), p. 3 (installation image); p. 40, no. 2
• The Buddhist Master Sculptor Kaikei: Timeless Beauty from the Kamakura Period, exh. cat., Nara National Museum (Nara, 2017), p. 152, ill.
• Nara National Museum, ed., Busshi Kaikei no kenkyū. (The Complete Works of Kaikei.), Shibunkaku (Kyoto, 2023), p. 137, fig. 14-2

Exhibition History

• Chogen, Nara National Museum, Nara, 04/15/2006 - 05/28/2006
• Reflections of the Buddha, Pulitzer Arts Foundation, St. Louis, 09/09/2011 - 03/10/2012
• 32Q: 2740 Buddhist II, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, 06/02/2016 - 09/10/2019
• 32Q: 3620 University Study Gallery, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, 09/04/2021 - 01/02/2022
• Seeing in Art and Medicine, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, 09/02/2023 - 12/30/2023

Subjects and Contexts

• Iconic Works
• Collection Highlights

Verification Level