Object Details
- Label
- The historical Buddha Shakyamuni (sage of the Lion Clan) lived and taught in northern India from approximately 480 – 400 BCE. Seated Shakyamuni images are characteristically represented with the left hand holding a begging bowl and the right hand lowered in the earth-touching gesture that signifies the moment of enlightenment.
- This impressively large and handsome sculpture was most likely made for the altar of a Buddhist temple; it may have been one of a set that represented the Buddhas of different ages. Made from copper alloy that is partly cast and partly repousse, the gilded sculpture has a face freshly painted in the cold-gold technique of Tibet; the other parts of the body not covered by garments (that is, the chest, right arm, left hand and feet) were probably also originally painted in cold-gold. An inset urna (the forehead mark that is one of the thirty-two marks, or lakshanas, of a Buddha) of turquoise and painted hair and features lend further animation to this this friendly and alertly smiling Buddha.
- Buddhist altarpieces were refreshed with new pigments within monasteries. Although Tibetan Buddhist bronzes are sometimes repainted when they go on the market, removing the cold-gold and polychromy has been an even more popular method of preparing them for non-Buddhist markets. The iron begging bowl here is probably a replacement, but it is of the right type for an image of this size and date.
- Collection
- Arthur M. Sackler Collection
- Exhibition History
- The Tibetan Buddhist Shrine Room (March 12, 2022 - ongoing)
- Encountering the Buddha: Art and Practice Across Asia (October 14, 2017 to February 6, 2022)
- Doorway to an Enlightened World: The Tibetan Shrine from the Alice S. Kandell Collection (March 19 to November 27, 2016)
- The Tibetan Shrine from the Alice S. Kandell Collection (March 13, 2010 to November 27, 2016)
- Credit Line
- The Alice S. Kandell Collection
- mid-18th century
- Accession Number
- S2015.28.1a-b
- Restrictions & Rights
- Usage conditions apply
- Type
- Sculpture
- Medium
- Gilt copper alloy with pigments and turquoise
- Dimensions
- H x W x D: 55.9 × 39 × 28 cm (22 × 15 3/8 × 11 in)
- Origin
- Lhasa or Shigatse, Central Tibet
- On View
- Sackler Gallery 26a: The Tibetan Buddhist Shrine Room
- See more items in
- Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Collection
- Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery
- Topic
- metal
- Buddhism
- Tibet
- South Asian and Himalayan Art
- Alice S. Kandell Collection
- Shakyamuni Buddha
- Record ID
- fsg_S2015.28.1a-b
- GUID (Link to Original Record)
- http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ye3d2840b15-ce40-49ac-a110-2585540a5c4d
