Please enable JavaScript in your web browser to get the best experience.
1613277035
Figure. The gilded, dry lacquer sculpture depicts the Buddha seated cross-legged with his left hand resting in his lap and his right hand in the gesture of 'touching the earth' or 'bhumisparshamudra' which is believed to have occurred at the moment of Enlightenment. The 'usnisha' (a cranial bump signifying high spiritual attainment) is missing its original finial. The hair is formed into small points with 'thayo' (lacquer putty), the hair is separated from the forehead by an indented line and the elongated earlobes rest on the shoulders.The robe covers the right shoulder in a plain flap, and the stylized drapery folds below the knees in simple '3' and reverse '3'- shaped contours.The figure is enthroned on a tapered, two-tiered plinth, decorated with a dart-like double lotus pattern at the top and with pendant triangles articulated with lines and dots at the base. The plinth is supported on a wooden frame.
© The Trustees of the British Museum
To license images for charged-for journals and publications, and other commercial uses, please contact British Museum Images.
Contact BM images
You are permitted to use images from the British Museum website subject to our terms of use.
The image will be released to you under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) license. You can read more about the British Museum and Creative Commons here.
If you cannot see an image that you want on the British Museum website, you can order new photography from us.
Order new image