0410-01
Lotus Petal from the Lotus Pedestal of a Buddhist Temple Sculpture
Japan. Kamakura period (1185–1333)
Cypress wood with traces of original gesso and polychrome pigments
Accompanying Japanese wood box with inscription dating the petal to the Kamakura period
49 cm (19 1/4 in.)
The single petal is one of multiple petals from a pedestal supporting a large sculpture of a Buddhist deity. The petal is carved from solid wood with pronounced ribs. The surface has considerable traces of the original colouring with underlying white gesso. The reverse of the leaf has remnants of canvas strengthening strips.
Lotus petals of similar profile and carving appear on a lotus stand of a 1231 cypress-wood sculpture of Kichijoten in Fukoen-ji Temple, Yamanashi Prefecture, Japan that is illustrated in Victor Harris and Ken Matsushima, Kamakura: The Renaissance of Japanese Sculpture, 1185–1333 (London: British Museum, 1991), cat. no. 9.
Lotus Petal from the Lotus Pedestal of a Buddhist Temple Sculpture
Japan. Kamakura period (1185–1333)
Cypress wood with traces of original gesso and polychrome pigments
Accompanying Japanese wood box with inscription dating the petal to the Kamakura period
49 cm (19 1/4 in.)
The single petal is one of multiple petals from a pedestal supporting a large sculpture of a Buddhist deity. The petal is carved from solid wood with pronounced ribs. The surface has considerable traces of the original colouring with underlying white gesso. The reverse of the leaf has remnants of canvas strengthening strips.
Lotus petals of similar profile and carving appear on a lotus stand of a 1231 cypress-wood sculpture of Kichijoten in Fukoen-ji Temple, Yamanashi Prefecture, Japan that is illustrated in Victor Harris and Ken Matsushima, Kamakura: The Renaissance of Japanese Sculpture, 1185–1333 (London: British Museum, 1991), cat. no. 9.