Page 141 - JAPAN THE SHAPING OFDAIMYO CULTURE 1185-1868

74 JizóBosatsu
polychromed wood
66
h. 167.5 ( )
Kamakura period, late i3th century
Jufukuji, Kanagawa Prefecture
Important Cultural Property

Jizó Bosatsu (bosatsu is the Japanese for
bodhisattva), which was introduced into
Japan in the eighth century, became to-
ward the end of the Heian period an ob-
ject of popular faith as the particular deity
who intervenes for the sake of those suf-
fering in Hell. As in most extant images of
Jizô, he is depicted here as a monk,
shaven-headed and clad in monastic robes.
He holds a "wish-granting" jewel in his left
hand, and in his right the characteristic
monk's staff, not pictured, topped by loose
rings whose jingling announced his
approach.
Jufukuji was built in 1200 by Mina-
moto Yoriie, the second shogun of Kama-
kura, and Hôjô Masako, the widow of
Minamoto Yoritomo (1147-1199), the first
shogun. Eisai (or Myóan Yósai, 1141-1215;
cat. 49) was its founding priest.
The well-focused oval face and pro-
portion between the head and body indi-
cate that this piece was probably made by
an accomplished sculptor toward the end
of the thirteenth century. The front and
back of the head were carved in two parts
and joined behind the ears. The crystal
eyes enhance the realism of the figure. Al-
though life-size wooden sculpture from
the late Heian period and later typically
employed the yosegi zukuri technique (hol-
low joined blocks), using material from dif-
ferent trees, here the body, excluding the
hands but including the upper half of the
pedestal, was made from a single block of
Japanese cypress (hinoki). Over the pasted
cloth and sabi urushi (thick raw lacquer
mixed with pulverized stone), which still
remain, black lacquer and pigment seem
to have been applied to the entire surface.
The staff in the right hand and the bottom
section of the pedestal are later additions.
SH

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