Kannon Bosatsu

About the Art

This sculpture was made with a technique invented in Japan called yosegi-zukuri. Instead of carving the entire work from a single block of wood, multiple blocks are carved separately, joined together and finished. This has many benefits, including making the sculpture lighter and preventing cracking.

Kannon Bosatsu is the Japanese name for the bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara. A bodhisattva is an advanced spiritual figure who postpones enlightenment in order to help others. Note the single lotus flower in the left hand. This further identifies the figure as Sho-Kannon, one of a group of six Kannon figures in esoteric Buddhism who help humans through the six stages of rebirth. Sho-Kannon is Kannon in plain form, while the other versions have unusual features, such as one thousand arms, or eleven heads.

FEATURED IMAGE
Artist(s) unknown (Japan, Muromachi period, 1333–1568), Kannon Bosatsu, 15th–16th century, wood with lacquer, gilding, pigments, copper, crystal and beads, 17 1/2 x 13 inches (44.5 x 33 cm). Museum purchase with funds provided by Virginia Rike Haswell, 1979.49