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A wooden sculpture of a head on a wooden pedestal. The sculpture begins at the neck and goes into a round face. They have their eyes closed and long earlobes. Their hair is up and detailed with small bumps. There are small holes in between their eyebrows and at the top of their head.

The wooden sculpture is of a head on a wooden pedestal. The pedestal is low and square. The sculpture is a warm mid-tone brown color. The sculpture has a scalloped edge around the base of the neck. The face is round with very round cheeks. The lips are small and round. The eyes are long and slender with rounded brow bones. The forehead is small and the earlobes are long. The hair is up in a bun on top of the head and is detailed with small bumps. There are two holes, one in between the brows and the other at the top of the head. The hair is a light shade of brown.

Gallery Text

Crafted for Japanese Buddhist image halls of the Heian (794–1185) and Kamakura (1185–1333) periods, the objects in this case were once part of magnificent architectural and sculptural ensembles intended to render the Western Pure Land of the Buddha Amitabha physically present in our earthly realm. To be reborn in the Western Pure Land guaranteed the attainment of awakening; the splendors of this distant land were evoked with gleaming, gilded sculptures of Amitabha and his heavenly entourage, including bodhisattvas and angel-like apsarases. Icons of Amitabha were further canopied with stylized flower garlands in gilt bronze.

This period saw the rise to prominence of wooden statuary, which came to surpass bronze as the main material for Japanese Buddhist sculptures thereafter. Placed within the magnificent settings of image halls, Buddhist sculptures themselves became increasingly decorative and included the extensive use of brilliant polychromy; cut-gold leaf patterning (called kirikane) in the drapery; and metal adornments for crowns, headdresses, and accessories. Despite the richness of their robes and settings, the idealized facial expressions of the figures are serene and introspective — characteristics that reflect the aesthetic ideals of the statues’ courtly patrons.

Identification and Creation

Object Number
1954.140
Title
Head of a Buddha
Other Titles
Transliterated Title: Nyoraizō tōbu
Classification
Sculpture
Work Type
sculpture, head
Date
Late Heian period, mid 12th century
Places
Creation Place: East Asia, Japan
Period
Heian period, Late, 898-1185
Culture
Japanese
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/202864

Location

Location
Level 2, Room 2740, Buddhist Art, The Efflorescence of East Asian and Buddhist Art
View this object's location on our interactive map

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Wood with traces of polychromy
Dimensions
H. 36 x W. 21 x D. 20 cm (14 3/16 x 8 1/4 x 7 7/8 in.)

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History
S. Morita, Nara, Japan. [Yamanaka & Co., Japan] sold; to Edward W. Forbes (by 1954), gift; to Fogg Art Museum, 1954.

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Gift of Edward W. Forbes
Accession Year
1954
Object Number
1954.140
Division
Asian and Mediterranean Art
Contact
am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu
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Publication History

  • John M. Rosenfield, Japanese Arts of the Heian Period: 794-1185, Asia Society Inc. (New York, 1968), Plate 22 / pp. 63 & 115

Exhibition History

  • S425: East Asian Buddhist Sculpture, Harvard University Art Museums, Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Cambridge, 10/20/1985 - 04/30/2008
  • Japanese Art of the Heian Period (794-1185), Harvard University Art Museums, Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Cambridge, 06/06/2002 - 07/05/2002
  • 32Q: 2740 Buddhist II, Harvard Art Museums, 11/16/2014 - 01/01/2050

Subjects and Contexts

  • Google Art Project

Verification Level

This record was created from historic documentation and may not have been reviewed by a curator; it may be inaccurate or incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. For more information please contact the Division of Asian and Mediterranean Art at am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu