Page 38 - Christies Japanese and Korean Art Sept 22 2020 NYC

VARIOUS PROPERTIES
20
A WOOD FIGURE OF AMIDA NYORAI (AMITABHA)
MUROMACHI PERIOD (15TH CENTURY)
Carved and assembled from cypress wood in yosegi zukuri technique
and modeled as the Amida Buddha seated in lotus position, the right
hand raised in abhayamudra and the left held in dhyanamudra, the hair
arranged in small, snail-shaped spiral curls (rahotsu), wearing a robe
open at the torso and falling in pleats, the body applied with lacquer,
inlaid jewels on the forehead and in the hair, the inlaid crystal eyes
painted with black pupils ringed in red
20¿ in. (51.1 cm.) high
$60,000-80,000

Amida was central to the Jodo (Pure Land) sect of Buddhism
propounded in 1175 by the monk Honen, with the intent of
making Buddhism more readily available to all people. Salvation
could be attained by the simple repetition of the name of Amida
or the Nenbutsu, of which there were a number of different
methods of chanting.
Many statues of the Buddha of the Western Paradise were made
in response to the widespread popularity of Pure Land Buddhism
from the twelfth century (fig. 1). This image is seated with legs
crossed in the lotus position with the hands in gesture, or mudra, of
"welcoming to paradise" (raigo-in) signaling Amida's descent from
heaven to greet the soul of the faithful devotee at death.

Fig.1. An image of the Western Paradise (detail), late 14th century.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Fletcher Fund, 1927