1920.16.18.10

Collection type

Object

Description

Gilded figure of a passive deity standing on top of a lotus flower and a torana behind. The flower sits on top of a gilded pedestal. The figure's hands are in prayer position and is wearing an ornate headdress. For the shrine see 1920.16.18 .1, for the shrine pedestal see 1920.16.18 .2 and for the other figures see 1920.16.18 .3 - .9 & .11 - .14. [RH [OPS move] 1/9/2017]

Geographical reference

Japan

Asia > Eastern Asia > Japan

Person

Field collector J. Cole Hartland

PRM source Edwin Sidney Hartland

Date / Period

Date made: Before 1920

Date collected

By 1920

Acquisition information

Donated: 1920

Materials and processes

Material Wood Plant, Material Lacquer Varnish, Material Pigment, Material Metal, Process Lacquered Varnished, Process Gilded, Process Painted, Process Carved, Process Openwork

Dimensions

Height: max 205 mm, Depth: max 70 mm, Width: max 60 mm

Object numbers

Accession number: 1920.16.18.10

Research and responses

Note that some of the Japanese items are marked as being obtained by J. Cole Hartland and donated via his brother Edwin Sidney. It seems hard to believe that the other items from Japan were not also obtained by J. Cole Hartland. Note that there is no evidence to date that Edwin Sidney Hartland ever visited Japan [AP 16/2/2009]

In Mahayana Buddhism, increased devotion to the Buddha became elaborated as a belief in many celestial beings, notably Amitabha and Avalokiteshvara (Kwannon). Shingon esotericism is a part of Vajrayana, or Tantric Buddhism, however, in Japan the doctrine was much modified and systematized by the great religious leader Kukai, known posthumously as Kobo Daishi, one of the best-known Buddhist saints in Japan. [Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica [MR 23/2/2000]

Search terms: Religion, Figure, Furniture Dwelling, Shrine, Religious Object