Standing Brahma and standing Indra
About this video
Two 8th-century Japanese sculptures of Brahma and Indra (Bonten and Taishakuten), made for Kofukuji temple in Nara using the rare hollow dry lacquer technique, are now in the Asian Art Museum. The video explains why they are important and how x-rays and repair evidence suggest many parts once thought to be modern replacements are actually original.
You'll be able to
- explain why the hollow dry lacquer Brahma and Indra are rare and important.
- describe the question of how much of the statues is original.
- use evidence such as wires, nails and old photographs to support a conclusion.
Key words
- hollow dry lacquer
- An ancient technique that made lightweight, portable statues; used in Japan for only about 100 years.
- Nara period
- The period in Japan from 710 to 794 when the capital was at Nara.
- restoration
- Repairing or replacing damaged parts of an object.
- conservation
- Work that studies and protects artworks so they last.
- attendant
- A figure who accompanies and serves the Buddha or a bodhisattva.
Transcript
Brahma and Indra or bone ten anti-shock outen as they are known in Japanese were Hindu deities brought into Buddhism as attendants of the Buddha or of Bodhisattvas these two sculptures were created for kofukuji one of the most important temples in nada where the capital of Japan was located in the 8th century this pair is important for many reasons one being that the sculptures were made using the hollow dry lacquer technique an ancient method that produced lightweight portable statues it was only used in Japan for about 100 years the Asian art museums Banton and Taisha cotton are the only large-scale matched Japanese hollow dry lacquer sculptures in the United States from the Nara period which lasted from 710 to 794
even in Japan sculptures like these are extremely rare and most have been designated as national treasures or important cultural properties the Asian art museum has been able to conduct research into the history of these two figures these statues were among a number of items sold from kofukuji temple in 1906 photographs of the temples contents were taken at that time mark Fenn associate head of conservation and these two figures occur in one of the photographs but they don't have any hands any feet and one of them is missing half of his head when Avery Brundage bought these figures in the early 60s they were complete so the question ever since then has been how much of each of these figures is
restoration and how much is original many historians believe that the restored parts were 20th century replacements making the statues less important but research conducted by a team of Japanese scholars and the Asian art museum indicates that many of those parts are original x-rays revealed a wooden framework inside the statues as well as both ancient and modern nails used in the construction and repair of the figures and then there are also places where pieces have been wired on some of the wires clearly our repairs because they occur where there are cracks and so on these wired repairs indicate where original parts of the statues have been reattached for example there's a concentration of wire in
Taisha coatings head which is missing completely in the 1906 photograph strongly suggesting that ty Shackleton's head that you see here is original you
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