Deity
Unknown Artist
1100s
Medium
Magnolia wood with traces of color
Dimensions
h. 100 cm
Classification
Sculpture
Department
Japanese Art
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Credit
John L. Severance Fund
Accession Number
1954.373
About this artwork
This unidentified sculpture represents a mature male figure with a long beard. His robes, crown-like head ornament, and hair arranged into a topknot resemble the attire and styling of members of the heavenly realm—tenbu in Japanese—of the Buddhist cosmos. The comparatively simple design, along with carving marks purposely left by the sculptor throughout the surface tend to be associated with sculptures of kami, deities venerated at shrines, or jinja.