Object Details
Culture
China
Date
Northern Song Dynasty (960-1279)
Medium
Carved wood with traces of gilt and polychrome pigments
Dimensions
24 1/2 x 15 1/2 inches (62.2 x 39.4 cm)
Credit Line
George and Mary Rockwell Collection
Object
Number
88.002.139
The Buddha sits in a serene meditative pose, legs crossed with the soles of the feet facing up, the (…)
The 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)
