{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O130220"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O130220/"}},"images":{"_primary_thumbnail":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2006BF8267/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg","_iiif_image":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2006BF8267/","_alt_iiif_image":[],"imageResolution":"high","_images_meta":[{"assetRef":"2006BF8267","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2006BF8182","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2006AA4658","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2006AA4654","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2015HP3852","copyright":"©Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2017KC9993","copyright":"©Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2018KY5782","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false}]},"see_also":{"_iiif_pres":"https://iiif.vam.ac.uk/collections/O130220/manifest.json","_alt_iiif_pres":[]}},"record":{"systemNumber":"O130220","accessionNumber":"A.4-1924","objectType":"Figure of buddha","titles":[{"title":"Buddha","type":"generic title"}],"summaryDescription":"The simple clothing worn by this Buddha echoes the modest robes worn by the historical Buddha when he reached enlightenment after an intense period of meditation. Behind the figure is an ornate halo or aureole, decorated with flowers and an inner ring of lotus petals. The symmetrical composition of the sculpture intensifies the calmness reflected in the Buddha's face. Traces of red, black and green pigment on the head hint at the brightly coloured surface of the figure in earlier times.","physicalDescription":"Seated Buddha carved in dark grey limestone with traces of red and green pigment. The Buddha has a serene face, closed mouth, and a flat back. His thumbs have broken off. He has a large halo decorated with flora  and an inner ring of lotus petals. The folds of the Buddha's robes are inlaid into the stone. He is sitting on a rectangular slab, integral to the sculpture. The Buddha has one hand raised in a gesture of fearlessness (abhaya mudra) and one palm open in a gesture of gift giving (verada mudra).","artistMakerPerson":[{"name":{"text":"Unknown","id":"A1848"},"association":{"text":"","id":""},"note":""}],"artistMakerOrganisations":[],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[{"text":"Limestone","id":"AAT11286"}],"techniques":[{"text":"carving","id":"AAT53149"}],"materialsAndTechniques":"Limestone, with traces of gesso, paint and gilding","categories":[{"text":"Sculpture","id":"THES48896"},{"text":"Buddhism","id":"THES48984"}],"styles":[{"text":"Northern Qi","id":"AAT18405"}],"collectionCode":{"text":"EAS","id":"THES48596"},"images":["2006BF8267","2006BF8182","2006AA4658","2006AA4654","2015HP3852","2017KC9993","2018KY5782"],"imageResolution":"high","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"47F","id":"THES49793"},"free":"","case":"PL8","shelf":"","box":""}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"Figure of Buddha","id":""}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"China","id":"x29398"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"550-577","earliest":"0550-01-01","latest":"0577-12-31"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":"possibly"}],"associatedObjects":[],"creditLine":"Purchased with help from Art Fund and private donors","dimensions":[{"dimension":"Height","value":"122","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Width","value":"68","unit":"cm","qualifier":"with halo","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Width","value":"75","unit":"cm","qualifier":"maximum, incl. base","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Depth","value":"35","unit":"cm","qualifier":"maximum","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""}],"dimensionsNote":"","marksAndInscriptions":[],"objectHistory":"This figure has traces of paint, gesso and gilt. Most sculpture in ancient China is coloured, and it is said that, although much of the techniques have not been handed down, 30 per cent of the work on a sculpture was devoted to carving, and 70 per cent to painting. \r\n\r\nThis object is included in the Xiangtangshan project, an international initiative based at the University of Chicago (2006) which aims to build up a digital reconstruction of this Northern Qi cave complex. \nHowever, it is not certain that this object did once form part of these caves. Some argue that it is a later piece, (see references).","historicalContext":"","briefDescription":"Seated Buddha, limestone, with traces of gesso, paint and gilding, North China, possibly 550-577 (Northern Qi dynasty).","bibliographicReferences":[{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Ashton, 'A Chinese statue in the V&A Museum' <u>Burlington Magazine</u>, XLV, 1924, p.72\r\n\r\nSiren, O. 'Chinese Sculpture from the Fifth to the Fourteenth Century', 1925, # 285\r\n\r\n\r\nClarke, John: Arts of Asia, vol. 45, no. 5, September - October 2015, \"The Buddha image in Asia: Phase One of the Robert  H. N.Ho Family Foundation Galleries of Buddhist Art\",  p.115, pl. 4."},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"O. Siren, <u>Chinese Sculpture</u> (7 Vols), 1925, p.77; Plate 285."},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Orientations; vol. 40. no. 4; May 2009; The Robert H.N. Ho Family Foundation Gallery, Victoria & Albert Museum.\r\nLukas Nickel; Faith and Beauty. Chinese Buddhist Sculpture in the Victoria and Albert Museum, p. 52"},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Xiangtangshan project,  an international initiative based at the University of  Chicago (2006) which aims to build up a digital  reconstruction of this Northern Qi cave complex:\n\nhttp://web.archive.org/web/20230117114339/https://xts.uchicago.edu/introduction/"}],"production":"Katherine Tsiang Mino of the University of Chicago (2007) has expressed the view that this object is of Northern Qi date (550-577 AD) and that its original site was North Xiangtangshan, North Cave.\r\n\r\nOthers have assigned a later date, but Dr Mino's research into the Xiangtangshan caves was followed when describing the sculpture for the Ho Family Foundation Gallery, 2009.","productionType":{"text":"Unique","id":"THES48864"},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[{"text":"Buddha, Shakyamuni","id":"N5275"}],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[{"text":"lotus petal","id":"x40596"},{"text":"釋迦牟尼","id":"CIT281402"},{"text":"背光","id":"CIT288888"},{"text":"肉髻","id":"CIT0288701"},{"text":"白毫","id":"CIT0288631"},{"text":"施無畏印","id":"CIT286344"},{"text":"與願印","id":"CIT286347"},{"text":"吉祥坐","id":"CIT0283709"},{"text":"袍","id":"CIT289580"},{"text":"蓮瓣紋","id":"CIT0379627"},{"text":"番蓮紋","id":"CIT0379628"}],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[{"text":"Seated Buddha\r\n550–77\r\nProbably Northern Qi dynasty\r\nXiangtangshan, Hebei, China\r\nLimestone with traces of gesso, paint and gilding\r\nThe Buddha’s halo is formed of concentric bands\r\nof stylised lotus petals and powerful floral scroll,\r\nseparated by rings. This halo design, together with\r\nthe distinctive drapery that extends over the pedestal,\r\nsuggests that the figure comes from a cave-temple\r\ncomplex at Xiangtangshan, south of Beijing. Traces\r\nof pigment on the head show that it was originally\r\nbrightly coloured.\r\nPurchased with help from The Art Fund and private donors\r\nMuseum no. A.4-1924","date":{"text":"1/4/2009","earliest":"2009-04-01","latest":"2009-04-01"}},{"text":"Buddha Shakyamuni\r\nAD 550–577\r\nNorthern Qi dynasty\r\nThis Buddha has an ornate halo decorated with flowers\r\nand an inner ring of lotus petals. Traces of paint show that\r\nthe figure was once brightly coloured. The style of the\r\ndecoration and drapery suggests that the figure probably\r\ncame from the cave temple complex at Xiangtangshan\r\nin northern China. These features, together with the\r\ndelicately carved, rounded face, show a masterful Chinese\r\ninterpretation of the Indian Gupta dynasty style.\r\nPossibly from Xiangtangshan, Hebei Province, North China\r\nLimestone with traces of gesso, paint and gilding\r\nPurchased with help from the Art Fund and private donors\r\nMuseum no. A.4-1924\r\n北齐 描金加彩石佛坐像\r\n（原置河北响堂山）","date":{"text":"03/08/2015","earliest":"2015-08-03","latest":"2015-08-03"}}],"partNumbers":["A.4-1924"],"accessionNumberNum":"4","accessionNumberPrefix":"A","accessionYear":1924,"otherNumbers":[],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE"],"assets":["2019LV8927"],"recordModificationDate":"2026-01-08","recordCreationDate":"2006-12-18","availableToBook":false}}