Title
Seated Maitreya
Year/Period
Eastern Wei Dynasty (534-550)
Region
Possibly Quyang, Hebei province, China
Object Type
Material
Technique
Dimension
Object size: 60.0 x 24.0 x 14.0 cm
Accession No.
2015-00450
Collection of
Credit Line
Gift of Edmond Chin
The nose, limbs, and halo were broken and now restored, which might be simply aging, or perhaps intentional damage done during the extermination of Buddhism (ca 574) in the Northern Zhou period (557–581).This restored sculpture with creamy white tone is similar to one excavated in Quyang, Henan province, dated in AD 536 and now collected in the Beijing Palace Museum. The robe drapes in U-shaped folds down to the legs of the body. The front of the plinth is carved with a lotus-form incense-burner supported by a kneeling youth, flanked to each side by a lion with curly mane.
