Found on [Artifact Guesser](https://artifactguesser.com), an Open Artifact Database with a Time/Location Guessing Game build on top for fun and discovery.
Description:
The position of the Buddha’s arms indicates that the hands were once held in a gesture of meditation and suggests that this sculpture represents Amitabha, a celestial Buddha who presides over his Western Paradise. Devotion to Amitabha, a major component of Chinese Buddhist practice since the sixth century, promotes the goal of rebirth in Amitabha’s Pure Land, where conditions are conducive to achieving spiritual understanding.
The sculpture was made using the dry-lacquer technique, in which a core (often made of wood) is covered with clay and then wrapped in layers of cloth that have been saturated with lacquer— a tree resin that hardens when exposed to oxygen. As many as seven or eight additional layers of lacquer might then be applied. In the eighth century, this technique spread from China to Japan, where it was used widely in the production of Buddhist sculptures.
Thanks so much for posting this one. Between this post and the earlier one on the Diamond Sutra, got to see some really cool Mahayana Buddhist treasures.
Sukhavati, or the “Land that is filled with joy” is the Sanskrit equivalent for Pure Land.
Chinese/Japanese/Tibetian rituals guide the departed into Sukhavati, where they are then welcomed by Amitabha Buddha
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Found on [Artifact Guesser](https://artifactguesser.com), an Open Artifact Database with a Time/Location Guessing Game build on top for fun and discovery.
Description:
The position of the Buddha’s arms indicates that the hands were once held in a gesture of meditation and suggests that this sculpture represents Amitabha, a celestial Buddha who presides over his Western Paradise. Devotion to Amitabha, a major component of Chinese Buddhist practice since the sixth century, promotes the goal of rebirth in Amitabha’s Pure Land, where conditions are conducive to achieving spiritual understanding.
The sculpture was made using the dry-lacquer technique, in which a core (often made of wood) is covered with clay and then wrapped in layers of cloth that have been saturated with lacquer— a tree resin that hardens when exposed to oxygen. As many as seven or eight additional layers of lacquer might then be applied. In the eighth century, this technique spread from China to Japan, where it was used widely in the production of Buddhist sculptures.
More info, images, a map of that time period, and similar artifacts [here](https://artifactguesser.com/artifacts/664b7886b1ae9d19c9bbeafa).
Visit the [Original MET Source](https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/42163) to see whether its on display, for their history timeline and further essays/resouces on this type of object.
Thanks so much for posting this one. Between this post and the earlier one on the Diamond Sutra, got to see some really cool Mahayana Buddhist treasures.
Sukhavati, or the “Land that is filled with joy” is the Sanskrit equivalent for Pure Land.
Chinese/Japanese/Tibetian rituals guide the departed into Sukhavati, where they are then welcomed by Amitabha Buddha