Seated Gilt-bronze Bodhisattva

This statue, held in the Seoul Museum of History, is a seated gilt-bronze bodhisattva 58.8 cm in height, dating from the late Goryeo to early Joseon period. The figure as a whole is neat, compact and well proportioned, with eyes gently closed as if absorbed in deep meditation; the plump, rounded face carries the trace of a faint smile at the corners of the mouth. The hair falls from the head, curls around the ears, is tied in a knot at the shoulders, and then cascades luxuriantly down below the shoulders. This treatment of the hair, commonly found in Goryeo Buddhist paintings as well as in seated gilt-bronze Buddha images of the late Goryeo period, continued into Joseon-period statues. The robe is worn in the tongyeon style, covering both shoulders, over which is draped an unusual broad shawl-like garment. Across the chest, left widely open by the tongyeon-style kasaya robe, hangs a necklace richly decorated with dangling ornaments known as yeongnak. The necklace, formed by joining three strings of such ornaments with long tassels hanging down, is a form typically found on bodhisattva images from the late Goryeo to early Joseon period, though here its form is somewhat disordered and its carving indistinct. The three folds of the neck are clearly rendered, and below the widely open chest the figure wears a skirt-like garment with horizontal folds, its ribbon-shaped knot rendered in incised lines. The hands are small, with slender, elongated fingers, and both wrists wear bracelets set with lotus ornaments on the inner side. The right hand is raised before the chest with the first and third fingers joined, while the left hand rests near the belly with the first and third fingers likewise joined, forming the mudra of the lowest of the nine grades of rebirth, a gesture particularly associated with Amitabha Buddha. Since the bodhisattvas who attend Amitabha, Avalokiteshvara and Mahasthamaprapta, are also sometimes shown with this mudra, this statue appears to be one of a set made as an Amitabha triad. There is some damage to the body, but overall the condition is fairly good. The casting is somewhat rough, and a casting flaw remains at the side of the right sleeve. Much of the gilding has worn away from the front, though a good deal remains on the back. The statue does not now wear a crown, but a ridge above the forehead for mounting a separate crown suggests that it originally did. Bodhisattva images generally have a tall topknot at the centre of the head, but no trace of one appears here, suggesting that this statue was never given one. The statue follows the sculptural style of late Goryeo bodhisattva images, but shows signs of increasing formalism in places — the stylised folds of drapery falling behind the shoulders, the parallel horizontal folds across the knees, and the rendering of the rounded belly — suggesting that it is a bodhisattva image of the transitional period between late Goryeo and early Joseon, inheriting the sculptural style of the late Goryeo period. Although the casting is coarse and there is some damage, the work is a fine example of the sculptural style of that transition.

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Where it is

Region

Jongno-gu, Seoul

Designation

Provincial Tangible Heritage · 시도유형문화유산