Seated Buddha

Maker Unidentified artist

DateNorthern Song Dynasty (960-1279)

MediumCarved wood with traces of gilt and polychrome pigments

Dimensions24 1/2 x 15 1/2 inches (62.2 x 39.4 cm)

CultureChina

ClassificationsSculpture

Credit LineGeorge and Mary Rockwell Collection

Terms

Sculpture
Gilt
Carved wood
Polychrome
Buddha
Buddhism
Draperies
Flowers
Lotuses
Meditating
Religion
Chinese

Object number88.002.139

Label CopyThe Buddha sits in a serene meditative pose, legs crossed with the soles of the feet facing up, the hands placed in front and holding a peach-shaped lotus. The realistic proportions of the body and the lightly contoured features of the face reflect earlier Tang Dynasty canons of taste in Buddhist image-making, but by the early decades of the Song Dynasty the desire for richer surface effects began to assert itself. This desire is visible here in the decorative handling of the drapery folds and in the traces of polychrome that indicate that at one time this figure was clothed in a visually striking brocade-like garment. The face and bared chest were likely painted in flesh tones, which would have added further to the sensuous feeling surrounding this beautifully carved example of Song wood sculpture. (From “A Handbook of the Collection: Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art," 1998)

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