Seated Wooden Avalokitesvara of Beopjeongsa Temple, Taean

This seated wooden bodhisattva has a round, gentle face, and its proportions widen and enlarge progressively towards the knees. The knees in particular are high and broad, giving the whole figure a sense of stability, while the round face, with its faint smile, lends a soft impression. The back of the head has suffered considerable damage, exposing the interior and revealing the technique used: the traces suggest that earth was built up over the wood core and the hair was then incised into a pliable material such as lacquer applied to the surface. The crown ornament at the top is now missing, but a round trace remains, suggesting that a separately made piece was once fitted there and has since been lost. The crown itself was made by cutting a wooden board into shape and piercing it with holes into which flame, cloud and bird motifs were carved and inserted — a form typical of crowns of the late Joseon period. The two hands were carved separately: the left hand is raised to shoulder height, while the right rests on the knee with the thumb and index finger touching. The hands are rather large in relation to the body, and because their positions are the reverse of those usually seen on bodhisattva images, it is thought that this figure originally served as one of a pair of attendant bodhisattvas. In terms of dress, the figure wears a style of under-robe (pyeonsam) with a horizontal undergarment (seunggiji) beneath the chest; seen from the front, the hem of the robe beneath the torso falls in a distinctive W-shaped silhouette. The image was built up by joining several blocks of wood, and the internal structure shows that iron cramps were used at the joints. This wooden bodhisattva image shows particularly heavy damage to the back of the head, and its overall condition, including the crown, is not especially good. On the whole it displays the general characteristics of bodhisattva images of the late Joseon period, and the smiling face — soft and gentle — together with the large body, the W-shaped formalised drapery folds and the large hands, suggest that it was made around the late 17th to early 18th century.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Taean, Chungnam

Designation

Cultural Heritage Material · 문화유산자료