Head of a Buddha
CultureChinese
Dateca. 584 C.E.
MediumCoarse sandstone with traces of coloring
DimensionsOverall: 16 × 13 × 12 inches (40.64 × 33.02 × 30.48 cm)
Credit LineGift of Dr. and Mrs. Nicholas S. Pickard
Object numberF99-29
On View
On viewGallery Location
- 204
Collections
DescriptionThe larger than life-size stone head with elongated ears and round face with a double chin was chiseled away from its original larger stone sculpture, leaving noticeable extraction marks on the backside of the head. The frontal view illustrates the high arched eyebrows and full lips and nose. The head has traces of red and white pigments. The hair, which outlines the forehead and the top of the ears, has been sculpted to represent a chignon hair knot on the top of the head.Gallery LabelThis sandstone Buddha head originally resided in Cave Eight of the Tianlongshan Buddhist caves in Shanxi province. It is dateable to 584 A.D. by the stele outside the Cave Eight entrance. Cave Eight is approximately 14 feet on a side and 14 feet deep with a central core pillar that measures about 6 feet square. The core pillar had large seated Buddhas with attendants carved on each of its four directional sides. The Buddha head may be from either the northern or eastern side of the central pillar. Sculpted with elongated ears and round face with a double chin, traces of red and white pigment remain.
Dr. Nicholas S. (1910-1993) and Mrs. Eva Ann McCluskey (1914-2008) Pickard, Mission Hills, KS, by 1993 [1]; Her gift to The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, 1999. NOTES: [1] Dr. Nicholas S. Pickard was an orthopedic surgeon who served as a trustee for the Nelson-Atkins. Mr. and Mrs. Pickard were both active in the museum’s membership groups.
Xiaoneng Yang, New At The Nelson: Asian Art Department Receives Ancient Buddha Sculpture, Nelson-Atkins, Calendar of Events (Kansas City, Missouri: The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, June 2000), 2 (repro.).
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