Japan, 19th century
Amida standing on a lotus dais raised on an elaborately tiered pedestal. Wearing a loose-fitting monastic robe draped over both shoulders, opening at the chest and cascading in voluminous folds. His hands held in raigou-in mudra, welcoming the dead into his Pure Land. His serene face with heavy-lidded downcast eyes below gently arched eyebrows centered by a glass byakugo (urna), a broad nose, full lips, and a thinly painted mustache. His hair arranged in tight curls over the domed ushnisha. The kohai (aureole) behind him with swirling clouds and a central lotus blossom.
HEIGHT 74 cm
Condition: Good condition with minor wear, few age cracks, minor old repairs, light surface scratches here and there, and the kohai with few minor chips and a small loss.
Provenance: From a Danish private collection, acquired at Bruun Rasmussen on 12 February 2024, lot 2407.
The sculpture represents Amitabha, known in Japanese as Amida Nyorai, or the Buddha of Limitless Light. Amitabha reigns over the Western Pure Land, a paradise to which anyone is welcomed if they faithfully and sincerely incant his name. This place of salvation became central to the Jodo [lit. Pure Land] sect of Buddhism. Propounded in 1175 by the monk Honen, the accessibility of such tenets of redemption allowed this form of Buddhism to proliferate across the nation and feudal classes of Japan. Often depicted with an elaborate mandala, the boat-shaped halo is said to remind his followers that he serves as a guide for them to cross the ocean of suffering which contaminates the living.
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