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A painted wooden sculpture of a head that is facing the viewer. The head is tilted to the right and is round in shape. The head has long earlobes and wears a black headdress.

The wooden sculpture is of a head from the neck up. The bottom edge of the neck shows a raw, chipped wood. The face is round in shape and has narrow eyes that are closed. The earlobes are long and there is a black headpiece on top of the head. The face and neck show some wear and black discoloration.

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
2016.310
People
Attributed to Jōchō, Japanese (d. 1057)
Title
Head of a Bodhisattva
Classification
Sculpture
Work Type
sculpture, head
Date
Heian period, c. 1053
Places
Creation Place: East Asia, Japan, Kyōto Metropolitan Area
Period
Heian period, 794-1185
Culture
Japanese
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/210970

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
Japanese cypress wood with traces of lacquer polychromy
Technique
Carved
Dimensions
H. 22.7 x W. 10 cm (8 15/16 x 3 15/16 in.)

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History
Phoenix Hall, Byōdō-in Temple, Uji, Kyoto (mid 11th - 1905/6). [Kyoto Bijutsu Kurabu, Kyoto, Nov. 27, 1933], auctioned. [James Freeman, Kyoto, by mid 1970s], sold; to Walter C. Sedgwick, Woodside, CA (mid 1970's - 2016), fractional gift; to Harvard Art Museums, 2016.

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Gift of Walter C. Sedgwick in honor of John M. Rosenfield
Accession Year
2016
Object Number
2016.310
Division
Asian and Mediterranean Art
Contact
am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu
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Publication History

  • Francesca Herndon-Consagra, Reflections of the Buddha, exh. cat., Pulitzer Arts Foundation (St. Louis, MO, 2011-2012), p. VIII (installation image); p. 40, no. 4
  • James Freeman, "Just One Thing After Another", Impressions (Lexington, 2018), no. 39, part one, pp. 66-129, pp. 120-121, ill.

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
  • Reflections of the Buddha, Pulitzer Arts Foundation, St. Louis, 09/09/2011 - 03/10/2012
  • 32Q: 2740 Buddhist II, Harvard Art Museums, 11/16/2014 - 01/01/2050

Related Works

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