Medium: Bronze
Geograhical Locations:
Dates:ca. 5th century
Dimensions: 6 1/8 × 1 5/8 × 1 9/16 in. (15.5 × 4.2 × 4.0 cm)
Collections:
Accession Number: 2021.18.2
Image: CUR.2021.18.2.jpg,
Catalogue Description: Standing figure, apparently depicting the historic Buddha. Roughly cast in bronze. Figure stands as a columnar shape with large head with large nose, topped by an ushnisha (Buddha's cranial bump). Small hands point forward from sides at waist height, not sufficiently delineated to make mudras discernable. Figure stands atop a double-lotus-shaped base. TL test results and overall style and finish of the object suggest that it is an extremely early example of a Buddha image from Korea. Buddhism is said to have arrived in Korea in 372 C.E. (arriving at the royal court of Baekje in 384 C.E.), but Korean Buddhist art is not known to survive from this early period.