figure
- Museum number
- 1898,0702.120
- Description
-
Figure. Seated Buddha with ornamental head dress. Made of bronze, although original notes say it is copper.
Seated bronze image of a Buddha, often identified as Amitayus. The Buddha's crown has five pointed elements and side projections which continue over the shoulders. The jata is topped by a small rounded usnisha (cranial bump). There are disc shaped ear plugs. A shawl covers both shoulders and falls over his lower arms, and an elaborate necklace covers his chest. He holds a vase in his lap. The Buddha is seated on a double lotus throne with beading top and bottom. Much of the clay core is still present.
- Production date
- 17thC (?)
- Dimensions
-
Height: 24.70 centimetres
-
Width: 13 centimetres
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Depth: 8.50 centimetres
- Curator's comments
- Although these images are usually identified as Amitayus, Pam Gutman argues that in the absence of other indications of Mahayana Buddhism in Arakan at the time, it was the form of the object, rather than any religious attribution, that was adopted (Gutman, Splendours of Arakan, pp. 149-50).
- Location
- Not on display
- Condition
- The object is in generally good condition. It appears to have been dropped with subsequent minor losses to the crown, and bending of some projecting areas.
- Acquisition date
- 1898
- Department
- Asia
- Registration number
- 1898,0702.120
- Additional IDs
-
Miscellaneous number: 1880.4070 (tracking number added in 1970s)