Seated Wooden Bodhisattva (1990)

This is a Joseon-period seated wooden bodhisattva image, made with a separately carved crown (bogwan) and hands that were then attached to the body of the statue. The crown itself is now lost, but traces remain on the forehead where a raised section once held it in place, and at the top of the head the hair is swept up and tied into a topknot (bogye). The hair flows down in front of and behind the ears, crosses near the earlobes, forms three circles on the shoulders, and then divides again into three strands as it falls further. The face is square, with narrow eyes looking downward and a clearly marked urna (the tuft of white hair between the eyebrows). The right hand, raised in front of the chest, is presumed to form the mudra of Amitabha's nine grades of rebirth, but since the left hand is missing, the exact hand gesture cannot be confirmed. Although it is a bodhisattva image, it does not wear the celestial robe usual for bodhisattvas but instead wears the outer robe of a Buddha image, in the doubled, both-shoulders-covered style; over the abdomen the folds of the outer robe are shown folded in a U shape, in symmetrical form. Because the crown and hand gesture that would normally identify the deity are both lost, the identity of the figure cannot be determined. It is a modest image 54cm in height with a gentle, warm smile; on the basis of its square face and overall form, the flat treatment of the drapery folds, the undergarment shown crossing the chest, and the U-shaped folds of the outer robe, it is presumed to date from the 17th century.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Yeonsu-gu, Incheon

Designation

Provincial Tangible Heritage · 시도유형문화유산