The Buddha at Birth

Object Details

• Label

  Buddhist sacred texts (sutras) record the miraculous acts of the Historical Buddha soon after his birth. The infant took seven steps and pointed to heaven and earth, declaring himself to be the lord of the cosmos and savior of all sentient beings- an event depicted by this miniature sculpture cast in bronze. It is a rare example of a gilt-bronze image produced in Buddhism’s earliest phase in Japan, after its introduction from Korea in 538. This figure, standing on a base that was replaced later, closely resembles an image designated as an Important Cultural Property in the Shogenji, a Buddhist temple in Aichi Prefecture, Japan. The style reflects the refined work of the Tori school of professional Buddhist sculptors who produced a bronze image of the Historical Buddha and two attendant bodhisattvas (enlightened beings), dated 623, for the Horyuji in Nara.

• Provenance

  ?-1967

  Takashi Yanagi Oriental Fine Arts 古美術 柳, Kyoto, Japan, method of acquisition unknown[1]

  1967-2005

  Sylvan Barnet (1926-2015) and William Burto (1921-2013), purchased from Takashi Yanagi Oriental Fine Arts, Kyoto,Japan [2]

  From 2005

  Freer Gallery of Art, gift of Sylvan Barnet and William Burto [3]

  Notes:

  [1] See Valerie C. Doran, “Professing the Love of Art: A Conversation with Sylvan Barnet and William Burto,” Orientations vol. 33, no. 8 (October 2002): p. 55. See also Shōichi Uehara, "Two Statues of Buddha at His Birth" in Kobijutsu, no. 22 (March 1971), 95-97. See also note 2.

  [2] Sylvan Barnet and William Burto began collecting works of Japanese art in the 1960s, shortly after they began their

  careers as literature professors. They acquired this work in Kyoto Japan in 1971 from Takashi Yanagi Oriental Fine Arts. See acquisition justification form, copy in object file.

  [3] See deed of gift, signed November 28, 2005, object file.

  Research updated July 22, 2024

• Collection

  Freer Gallery of Art Collection

• Exhibition History

  The Beginnings of Buddhism in Japan (October 14, 2017 to October 28, 2018)

  Encountering the Buddha: Art and Practice Across Asia (October 14, 2017 to February 6, 2022)

  Art of the Gift: Recent Acquisitions (July 24 to December 13, 2015)

  Faith and Form: Selected Calligraphy and Painting from the Japanese Religious Traditions (March 20 to July 18, 2004)

  Religious Art of Japan (December 18, 2002 to January 4, 2015)

• Previous custodian or owner

  William Burto (1921-2013)

  Sylvan Barnet (1926-2015)

  Takashi Yanagi Oriental Fine Arts

• Origin

  Japan

• Credit Line

  Gift of Sylvan Barnet and William Burto in honor of Yanagi Takashi

• Type

  Sculpture

• Restrictions and Rights

  Usage Conditions Apply

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Keep Exploring

• Related Resources

  collections.si.edu

• Date

  600s

• Name

  Barnet, Sylvan, buddha, Burto, William, Takashi Yanagi Oriental Fine Arts

• Place

  Japan

• Topic

  Gilding, Bronze, Asuka period (552 - 710), Art, Sculpture, Japanese Art, Birth, Metal-work

• Culture

  Buddhists, Japanese

• Object Type

  Sculpture